Shadow of Beginning
by HPloveisreallove
Summary: AU. Demyx is one of the most popular kids in school, but what happens when he befriends a guy who isn't popular? And what's the sinister reason behind the people who have gone missing? AkuDem fic, but no sex scenes. Lots of fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

I came across this story when I was fishing through my documents folder trying to find inspiration to finish my other story that I haven't updated in... a while. I wrote this about four years ago when I was still in high school, and I completely forgot about.

After reading the first couple chapters I've decided to edit and upload it. This shouldn't take too long to update, since I don't actually have to write anything, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It's very different from what my current writing style developed into, and I had fun rereading it.

Well anyways, here it is in all its cavity-inducing goodness. No really, there are moments that are almost cringe worthy because it's so sweet.

Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

><p>Demyx ran like his life depended on it. In a way it did. That bus wouldn't stay there forever, in fact it looked like it was about to leave any second, and as soon as it did Demyx would be late for class. He couldn't miss another one, or his teacher would fail him. The brake lights on the bus suddenly flashed off, and the tires started rolling. Demyx pushed himself to run faster, there was no way he would make it, but perhaps if he got closer and the bus driver saw him…<p>

He didn't see him. The bus picked up speed and turned the corner out of sight. Demyx stopped, panting and cursing between each breath. If only he had a car! He was the only senior who didn't have one. Well, the only senior amongst his group of friends. Sure he had his license, but that didn't help much without an actual set of wheels to put to use. As his breathing became more even Demyx started to walk to campus. The next bus wouldn't come for another thirty minutes, and it was only a twenty minute walk. But he hated walking alone in the city. As if to emphasize his worries he noticed a missing person's poster stapled to a telephone pole nearby. It was different from the one that had been there just a few weeks ago.

Just as he shifted his bag to a slightly more comfortable position, a car pulled up beside him and stopped. He looked over and saw Axel, one of his classmates who lived nearby, waving from the driver's seat. Demyx closed his eyes in an effort not to roll them, and did his best not to look too upset about talking to him. After all, he needed a ride. As he walked up to the car Axel's friend in the passenger seat rolled down the window so they could talk.

"Hey, Demyx. Want a ride?"

Axel's eagerness was a clear sign he should say no. But, he needed a ride. "Yeah, I missed the bus. Do you mind?"

"Of course not, we're going to the same place." He looked pointedly at his friend, who clearly understood the message and clambered into the back seat. Demyx opened the door to the passenger side and got in. "Sorry about the mess," Axel said, a little nervously. There were empty potato chip bags and plastic Coke bottles littering the floor of the car.

"It's okay," Demyx lied. The car was disgusting. He found a small patch of the floor that had somewhat less garbage than the rest and put his feet there. His bag stayed on his lap.

The ride was incredibly awkward. No one really spoke, not even Axel and his friend. Demyx watched the road through the passenger window, praying his friends would already be inside the school. He didn't want them to see him getting out of Axel's car.

"Demyx?"

The sound of his name brought him back. He looked around and saw that Axel's friend was looking at him. He must have just asked Demyx a question.

"Sorry, what?" He said.

"I just asked why you didn't have a car." Xigbar glanced at the rearview mirror and Demyx saw that Axel was looking back at him warningly. "I mean," he continued, "you do have your license, don't you?" Axel threw a well-aimed punch to the back seat and hit his friend's leg.

Demyx tried to contain a smile. "Yes, Xigbar, I do have my license. The reason I don't have a car, though I don't see how it's any of your business, is because I can't afford the insurance."

"Then maybe you should get a job."

"He works at the mall, idiot," Axel said. Demyx looked over at him and saw his ears were bright red. He didn't know how Axel knew where he worked, but then again a ton of people their age went to the mall every day. He probably just saw him there.

"Yeah, I do," Demyx said, trying to break the tension that had suddenly sprung up in the car.

Axel glanced over at him then focused back on the road. Xigbar seemed to be done talking for now. Demyx looked back out of his window until they pulled up at the school. He scanned the parking lot and sidewalks carefully, and decided his friends must thankfully be inside. Looking over at Axel he muttered "Thanks" and quickly opened the door to escape. As he was rushing to get away he heard him call out:

"See ya in class."

He waved without turning around. Yes, they would see each other in class, but they wouldn't talk. They had never talked before now. The car ride was a fluke, it didn't count. That's what he kept telling himself as he walked towards his locker and threw his bag inside. Demyx walked to his class and sat down next to his friends.

"You're here! You didn't show up with the other people who ride the bus, so we thought you must not be coming. Did you get a ride with someone?" That was Larxene, a very pretty blond who had instantly wanted to be Demyx's friend since freshman year.

"Yeah," Demyx muttered, pulling his notebook and pen out of his bag.

"Oh? Who?" Asked Zexion, seated on Larxene's left.

Demyx shook his head, unwilling to answer, but at that moment Axel and Xigbar walked in. Axel didn't even look his way, but Xigbar did. And he winked at Demyx.

That's all it took and Larxene exploded. "You got a ride with Axel?" She tried to ask it as quietly as she could, under the circumstances, but still people around them looked around at her.

"I had to," Demyx pleaded, "I missed the bus and I was going to be late. I can't miss another class or I'll fail."

"But…Axel?" Marluxia, his third friend, looked appalled. Zexion looked like he was in shock. "I mean, he's been in love with you since forever."

"He's not _in love _with me. He doesn't even know me."

"That certainly doesn't stop him from staring at you," Zexion said. And sure enough, when Demyx looked to where Axel had sat down he was blatantly staring at him. Their eyes met and Axel smiled at him but Demyx looked quickly away.

"Or offering you a ride," Marluxia added, pretending nothing had just happened.

"And you accepted!" Larxene suddenly burst out.

"Larx, I was gonna be late if I didn't. Calm down, I was pretty cold to him anyway." Which was true, but that's the way it had always been, so why did he suddenly feel a little bad about it?

"So he doesn't think you're like, friends, does he?" Larxene asked, her eyes pleading with Demyx.

"Definitely not," Demyx assured his friend. Larxene looked far from mollified, but she turned her attention to the front of class as the teacher stood up to take roll.

Demyx listened to the teacher talk about the girl who had gone missing and how students should try to be very careful when alone. When she was finished lecturing the high school seniors about maturity and being smart, because they clearly hadn't learned either of those, a huge smile spread across her face and Demyx groaned. This was going to be bad. Worse, it was going to be _painful. _ This teacher refused to see reason on anything, and whatever gave her pleasure was not going to be fun for the class. It wasn't just Demyx who felt this way either, most of the people in the class had turned to their neighbor in order to exchange worried looks.

"We're going to try something new," she said.

Demyx knew it. This was going to be some kind of punishment the universe had decided to dole out because he accepted Axel's ride. Ms. Wandall was going to make them memorize and recite poetry in front of the class. Or worse: impromptu speeches. Or maybe…

"Sorry, Demyx, maybe next time."

Demyx looked around. Larxene had a somewhat apologetic look on her face, and Zexion and Marluxia were avoiding his gaze entirely.

"What did I miss just now?" Demyx asked, confused.

"Ms. Wandall wants us to get into groups of four for a project, and Zex, Marluxia, and I are grouping with Luxord, the new guy."

"Oh." Demyx had been wrong. This had nothing to do with the universe punishing him, Larxene was doing it all on her own.

"Sorry," Zexion offered, actually looking upset.

"No problem, I'll find someone to group with." And before Larxene could warn him about who he couldn't group with, Demyx stood up to find someone else without a group. Luckily there was another guy, who hadn't even bothered moving when the teacher had finished speaking. Demyx had never talked to him before, but knew his name was Roxas because when he was new last year Demyx had tried to convince Larxene to befriend him, but Larxene had refused. She thought there was something "weird" about Roxas. Demyx didn't like to judge people before he knew them, so he decided that now was a good time to get to know Roxas. It was also an excellent chance to get back at Larxene for forming a group without him.

"Hi," Demyx said brightly as he sat down at Roxas's table. Roxas looked up at him a little surprised, but smiled all the same. "Wanna be a group?"

"Sure," Roxas said, "but we'll need two more people."

Demyx looked around at the slowly forming groups around them, hoping to see a couple people who were either left out or just didn't want to join another group without a friend. Then he saw something that made him smile even more. Just a few tables away Axel and Xigbar sat talking to each other, and neither of them had bothered to get into a group either. The opportunity was too perfect! Larxene was going to wish she had included Demyx in the group after what he was about to do.

"Do you mind if Axel and Xigbar join us?" Demyx asked Roxas. Roxas shook his head and Demyx called out to them. "Hey, Axel!" Axel looked over at him, the shock on his face more obvious than anything. "Wanna join our group?" Roxas chuckled, and it was easy to see why. Xigbar's mouth dropped open and Axel looked as if someone had punched him in the face. It was pretty funny, and Demyx even laughed a little.

Axel must have sensed good intentions, though, because he and Xigbar came over to the table where Demyx was sitting with Roxas. "I'll only join if Xigbar can too."

"Oh, really? Why would you want to be in a group with him?" Demyx asked teasingly.

"Very funny, Blondie," Xigbar said, sitting down at the table across from Roxas and looking at Demyx with intense distrust. Axel took the seat across from Demyx and smiled nervously at him. Demyx smiled warmly back at him, reveling in his perfect little scheme.

Once the class had settled into groups, Ms. Wandall stood in front of the room again. What she said wiped the smile from Demyx's face completely. Apparently each group was to choose a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays, memorize it, and act it out in front of the class before the end of the year. Ms. Wandall was going to assign each group the play they would read, and as a group the students would choose a scene to perform. Demyx tried hard not to panic, he wouldn't be in front of the class for almost two months yet, but he hated going in front of the class for anything. Even if it was Shakespeare, which he happened to love. He looked at the others in his group. Axel and Xigbar both looked indifferent, but Roxas looked almost as panicked as Demyx himself felt. Ms. Wandall began moving around the class and assigning plays to the groups and the class started talking amongst themselves.

"Well, this should be fun, eh?" Xigbar said, with just a trace of sarcasm.

"We'll certainly be spending a lot of time together over the next couple months," Axel looked nervously across the table at Demyx as he said this, but Demyx didn't respond because he was still panicking. Axel's nervous look turned into one of concern. "Demyx? Are you all right?"

"I hate getting up in front of the class!" Demyx burst out suddenly, then hid his face in his hands. He heard Xigbar start to chuckle, but it was cut short as Axel kicked him hard under the table. A small hand started stroking Demyx's right shoulder in a comforting way, and a rather larger one took his hands from his face. Demyx didn't want to look at Axel while he was in such a vulnerable state, so instead he turned to Roxas.

"It'll be okay," Roxas said. "I hate it too, but at least we'll be with friends, which is better than doing it alone, right?"

Friends. Right. Demyx's friends had cast him aside like a pet they didn't want anymore. "Right," he said nonetheless. He suddenly realized his hand was still in Axel's and pulled it away quickly. Thankfully, Ms. Wandall came up to them before anything could get really awkward.

"Well, isn't this an odd group." She said. It wasn't a question but she said it like it was, perhaps daring one of them to confront her. No one was taking the bait though. "Well, since you have an even mix of genders," she said sarcastically, "let's go with…_Romeo and Juliet. _Have any of you read it before?" All four of them raised their hands. "Wonderful!" Ms. Wandall exclaimed. "I'll leave the four of you to discuss which scene you'll do." And with that she moved on to the next group.

"So, what scene do you guys wanna do?" Xigbar asked.

Everyone was silent, not wanting to say their opinion first. Then Roxas spoke up. "Well, the balcony scene is always good. Or the death scene."

"Yeah, but the problem with the balcony scene is not enough characters," Axel interjected. "It's almost entirely Romeo and Juliet."

"The death scene definitely has enough characters, but it's a lot more than we need," Xigbar added.

"I have an idea for the balcony scene," Demyx said.

"What's that?" Axel asked.

"Well, like you said, it's almost entirely Romeo and Juliet. Couldn't we just share a character and split their lines in half, so we're all still participating?"

The other three sat there thinking about it, Xigbar even had a small smile. "It might be kinda fun. Especially if we don't do it exactly in half. You know, maybe switch it up a bit?"

"I got one better," Axel said. "We'll split Juliet's lines into fourths, with the two of you," he gestured towards Demyx and Roxas, "alternating between fourths. Then the two of us," he then gestured toward Xigbar and himself, "will do the same with Romeo's lines. We'll work it out so that Xigbar and I play Romeo to both of you, and the two of you play Juliet to both of us. Do you get it? Does that sound good?" He asked, a little nervously.

"Definitely," Demyx said with enthusiasm. "I think it would be fun."

Xigbar and Roxas agreed and Axel relaxed noticeably. The bell rang to end class and everyone began heading out. Demyx went to his next class alone. He didn't have any of his friends in it, but normally he would walk with them to the class and they would continue to their own. Today he just didn't feel like walking with them, not after they decided not to include him in the group. His next few classes passed without anything eventful happening, and then Demyx was waiting at his locker for his friends to show up so they could leave for lunch. He was about to shut the locker door, however, when they were suddenly right behind him, all three of them with their arms folded.

"You let _Axel_ in your group?" Larxene thundered.

"And why would you group with that weirdo kid?" Marluxia asked.

"If you guys don't remember, you chose to outcast me, it wasn't exactly my decision. Roxas was sitting alone, so I thought I would group with him. As for Axel and Xigbar, Roxas and I needed two more people. I thought it would be a good way to thank him for giving me a ride."

"By spending the next two months with him?" Zexion asked.

"Well, when we grouped up we didn't know what the group was for, remember? I thought it would just be a one-class thing." Demyx fidgeted a little. What he had said was true, they hadn't known what the group was for, but he still would have asked him to join even if he had known because the reason he did it in the first place was to get back at Larxene.

Larxene seemed a little suspicious, and she narrowed her eyes as she talked. "Well, I don't see how this is going to work."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this friendship! Seriously, Demyx, how do you think it looks for you to be hanging out with those three? If Ms. Wandall had put us into groups it would be entirely different, but you _asked _to be with Roxas and then you _asked _Axel to join you!"

"Only after you guys decided to be a group without me!" Demyx shouted in his defense.

"Well excuse us for wanting to get to know a new student," Marluxia said, acid lacing every word.

"You could have gotten to know him outside of English, you didn't have to do it this way," Demyx spat back at him.

"I think," Zexion cut in, "that we should go to lunch and just figure things out from there."

"Fine with me," Larxene said, but as Demyx slammed his locker door shut Larxene added, "but you're staying here. The three of us need to talk about some things."

Demyx couldn't believe the injustice of this, but before he could say anything his friends turned around and walked away. It took all the willpower Demyx had not to sink down to the floor and just sit there with his arms wrapped around his legs and wait for lunch to be over. He still hadn't moved from his spot, though, as he had no idea what to do or where to go. Then he felt someone's delicate hand on his arm and he looked to his left.

It was Roxas, with a slightly hesitant smile on his face. "Want to go to lunch with me?" He asked.

Demyx nodded without thinking, just wanting to get away from in front of his locker. From the school itself. He followed Roxas silently out to his car and got into the passenger seat.

Once Roxas had pulled out of the parking lot he finally spoke up. "Okay, so…I'm not going to pretend I didn't notice what just happened. They were so rude to you! Why are you even friends with them?"

Demyx now felt guilty amongst everything else. Roxas had heard Demyx say that the only reason he grouped with him was because Roxas had been by himself, and Roxas didn't even seem to care! He was just concerned that Demyx's so-called friends had been rude to Demyx. "They're popular," Demyx finally said. He realized how shallow that sounded and felt the need to explain himself a little bit more. "I always wanted to be one of the popular kids when I was in Junior High, but at the school I went to everyone was pretty much friends with everyone else back then, so popularity didn't really seem to matter. Then when I was about to start High School my family moved across town, so I had to change school districts. When I came here, it was pretty clear popularity _did _matter. The first day of freshman year I spent completely alone, because I'm not really the best at making new friends, but during lunch the next day Larxene came up and sat with me. She was alone then, but it was obvious to everyone that with her looks and personality that she was destined for popularity. She seemed to want to be friends with me, and I clung on to that, as desperate as I was for friends and status. Eventually we added Zexion and Marluxia, and the four of us became…well…"

"The most popular kids in school," Roxas finished for him.

"Yeah, I guess," Demyx shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't feel too ashamed, I know you're popular. Everyone does. That's why I was so surprised when you asked me to be in your group."

"I wanted to be friends with you ever since you first moved here," Demyx blurted, wanting to at least show Roxas a part of himself that wasn't as shallow and callous as he was sounding in his own ears.

"Really?" Roxas asked, genuinely surprised. "Well, thanks, but it wouldn't have worked anyway. I can't stand your friends."

"If they're even my friends anymore."

"Don't let them make that decision. Make it for yourself. Decide not to be their friend."

"I can't do that, I don't know anyone else."

"You know me. And Axel and Xigbar."

Demyx sat in silence for a long time. What Roxas was saying made sense. Demyx's friends were nice to him because he was one of them, but they were cruel to everyone they thought was below them. That had always bothered Demyx a little, but he was able to put it in the back of his mind since he wasn't actually the one being cruel.

"Thanks, Roxas," he finally said as they pulled into the school parking lot. Axel and Xigbar were getting out of Axel's car, and when Demyx met Axel's gaze he actually waved a little. Axel raised his hand in a tentative salute, then he and Xigbar began walking up to the school. "I think I may take you up on that offer."

"It'd be nice to get to know the real you," Roxas said with a sincere grin on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Demyx woke up especially early, determined not to miss the bus again. He got ready in a hurry, ate breakfast, and threw everything into his bag. When he headed out the door for the bus stop he was fifteen minutes early. There wasn't even anyone else there. He sat down and pulled out his iPod and waited for the bus. Not even five minutes later a vehicle pulled up and stopped in front of him, but it wasn't the bus. It was Axel. And he was alone this time. Demyx pulled out his headphones as Axel leaned over to roll the passenger window down.

"Thought you might like a ride," he said with a grin.

"Oh, er…" Demyx really didn't know what to say. He appreciated the thought, it was certainly kind, but everything that had happened yesterday because he had accepted his kindness was keeping him from saying yes.

"Oh, it's fine if you don't want to," Axel said, suddenly looking quite crestfallen.

The look on his face was unbearable. So was the thought the Demyx was currently having: that had this been anyone _but _Axel, he would have jumped in eagerly. Besides, hadn't he told Roxas yesterday that he was going to hang out with him instead of Demyx's former friends? What better way than to end those old friendships by showing them they couldn't boss him around?

Just as Axel was about to roll the window back up Demyx jumped up. "I'd love a ride! I hate the bus." And with that he jumped in the car. Axel looked a little taken aback at Demyx's sudden decision, but pleased nonetheless and he started driving. This time there wasn't as much awkwardness, but it wasn't exactly easy to talk to him either. They mostly talked about the English project, and Demyx started wishing he would drive faster so they could get to school sooner and go their separate ways. But when he had finally pulled into the school parking lot, he suddenly felt like he didn't want to say goodbye just yet. He actually wanted to walk up to the school with him in the hopes that people would talk about it and it would anger Larxene. So as they both got out of the car, Demyx lingered back a little, waiting for Axel. He didn't look surprised anymore, but still a look of confusion crossed his face.

They walked in silence until they reached the stairs leading up to the front doors, and Axel suddenly said, "I don't understand you."

"What do you mean?" Demyx asked, honest curiosity in his voice.

"You spend three and a half years ignoring me completely, and now because I offered you a ride yesterday you're okay with us being friends?" Demyx didn't have a response ready, so when he was silent Axel continued. "I know what your friends think about me. I may not be popular but I hear people talk. Don't you care what people will think if you're seen hanging out with me?"

They had come to a stop in the middle of the hallway by Demyx's locker. He walked to it and started opening it, thinking carefully about how to answer, and realized Axel wasn't with him anymore. Demyx looked over his shoulder and saw he was still in the middle of the hallway. He hadn't wanted to follow Demyx to his locker because it felt too personal. He realized this so he smiled and gestured for him to come over. Axel still hesitated, but decided to come over. As Axel leaned against another locker Demyx took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry for how I've treated you. For how I've probably treated a lot of people without really knowing it. But they're not really my friends anymore. They're upset at me and I've decided to find new friends."

"Because they didn't like the group you chose yesterday."

Demyx looked at him, a little startled. "How - ?"

"I told you, people talk. Quite a few people noticed Larxene yelling at you during lunch yesterday, and I've heard all about it, considering that it concerned me." Axel paused, then decided to add, "There's also a lot of talk about you going to lunch with Roxas."

"Yeah, my _friends _decided they wanted some time away from me, and Roxas invited me to lunch."

"That was nice of him."

"You have no idea."

"Yes, I do, actually. I offered you a ride yesterday and again this morning, remember?"

"Right. Thanks again," Demyx said. Axel just smiled and they walked to class.

As they entered the class Demyx couldn't help but glance toward the table his friends usually sat at. Their reactions almost caused him to burst into laughter on the spot: Larxene's eyes narrowed to slits, Zexion's mouth hung wide open, and Marluxia rolled his eyes and looked determinedly in the opposite direction. There was an empty seat at the table, typically filled by Demyx, but he had other plans today. He walked towards Roxas's table without hesitating, Axel following close behind.

Demyx sat down and Roxas turned to him, holding out his hand. "Hi," he said. "I'm Roxas."

Demyx smiled as he shook Roxas's hand. "Nice to meet you, Roxas. I'm Demyx." Then they broke into laughter and Axel sat there looking confused.

Xigbar walked up to them then and flung himself down onto the chair. "New seating?" He asked Axel wearily.

"Didn't sleep much?" Axel asked him.

"No, dad came home late last night. They found her body."

That stopped Demyx and Roxas's laughter. Demyx swallowed before asking, "Who's body?"

Xigbar looked questioningly at Axel, who nodded, and said, "The Coleman girl."

"The girl who was abducted last month?" Roxas asked. Xigbar nodded.

"When you say 'body,' you mean she was…?" Demyx couldn't finish the question.

"Dead, yeah. Tortured too, according to my dad. They also think she was raped, but they won't know for sure until they get the results back from Forensics."

"How does your dad know all this?" Roxas asked in amazement.

"He's a cop," Axel answered for him.

"This is awful," Demyx said in disgust. "Have they found the other girl yet? The one who just went missing a couple weeks ago?"

"No, they don't have any leads for her. But they're pretty sure the same guy is behind it all, because there's similarities in both cases that my dad won't tell me about." He looked up, suddenly very serious. "you two can't tell anyone about this. Not your parents, not your siblings, _no one._" He was looking at Roxas and Demyx, but he was mostly talking to Demyx.

"I won't tell anyone," Demyx assured him.

"I mean it. Not a soul. My dad only told me because he thinks I'll use my best judgment of who else to tell. He knows it'll get out eventually, and he's a firm believer in 'no secrets among family' so he tells me and my mom the stuff he's allowed to tell. Which is basically just the stuff that will get out anyway."

Demyx and Roxas swore not to tell anyone. Ms. Wandall stood up in front of the class to take roll, then she let everyone get back into their groups so they could discuss what they were going to do with each of their projects. At Demyx's table they split Romeo and Juliet's lines up between the four of them as they had planned. Really all they had left to do was memorize their lines, so they decided to read the parts out loud to each other. When class ended they said their goodbyes and Demyx nearly ran out the door in an effort to get to his next class without running into his former friends. Just as he was out of the door someone grabbed his arm. He turned around but it wasn't Larxene, it was Xigbar.

"I almost had to run to catch up to you," he said.

"What do you want?" Demyx asked without thinking. It came out sounding harsher than he meant it to, so he decided to add, "I have a class to get to."

"Everyone does, genius, it's only second period. I just wanted to see if you wanted someone to walk with. My next class is across the hall from yours."

"Oh. Okay, sure," Demyx said, still a little suspicious.

Xigbar must have sensed his insecurity, because as they started walking down the hall he said, "Roxas told me what you guys talked about yesterday at lunch."

"I didn't know you guys talked."

"He's in my sixth period. Usually he sits alone but after we grouped together yesterday I thought it would nice to sit with him. You know, so he would have someone to talk to for a change. He doesn't really have any friends."

"That's really nice of you," Demyx said sincerely.

"Yeah, well, I'm a pretty nice guy when someone takes the time to get to know me."

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"I…don't know. It just felt like it needed to be said." Xigbar started laughing so Demyx felt the need to defend himself. "I've never taken the time to get to know you."

"No, you haven't. But no one who's friends with Larxene gets to know people like me, or Roxas, or Axel. To be quite honest with you," he stopped in the middle of the hall, Xigbar's Math class on one side and Demyx's own Chemistry class on the other, "I couldn't care less that you've decided to be friends with us. I don't mean to be rude when I say that," Demyx had opened his mouth to argue but Xigbar held up his hands to stop him, "I think it's great you want to be a better person than what you were, because to be honest you didn't have much further down to go. But it's almost the end of senior year. I doubt you and I will become best friends. There's too much animosity between us."

"I don't have any animosity towards you," Demyx interjected while Xigbar had taken a second to pause.

"Well, I do towards you, and I'm sorry for it and I'll try to forget it if you're really trying to be a nice person now, but the fact remains: it's still there. Do you see?" Demyx nodded. Xigbar smiled and continued. "I do like you, and I believe we can be friends. Just probably not the greatest friends. Roxas, on the other hand, seems ready to accept you with open arms. And Axel…" Xigbar stopped suddenly, looking as if he fully realized what he was saying.

"What about Axel, Xigbar?" Demyx asked, curious now.

Xigbar shook his head. "Never mind. See you later." And just as the warning bell rang he ran into his classroom.

Demyx sat in Chemistry wondering what Xigbar had been about to say about Axel. Since he really had no idea there wasn't much speculating he could do. He forced himself instead to try to pay attention to his teacher's lecture. Finally it was lunchtime and Demyx was putting his stuff in his locker, wondering what on Earth he was going to do today for lunch. His problems were solved, however, when he turned around to discover Roxas, Axel, and Xigbar standing behind him.

"Wanna go to lunch again?" Roxas asked. "We thought we would get some pizza and maybe talk about English or something."

Demyx grinned happily and Xigbar smiled at Demyx to show him that he was at least making an effort to like him. Axel on the other hand looked excited but nervous at the same time. That's all it took for Demyx to make up his mind: he decided right then and there that he would do his absolute best to put a smile on Axel's face, especially since he had spent the last few years blatantly ignoring the redhead.

"Sure." They started walking toward the doors and when they were just a few feet away from them someone called Demyx's name from behind him. He turned around to see Zexion standing there, looking extremely nervous.

"Hi, Zex. What's up?" Demyx himself was a little nervous about this. There was only one reason Zexion would approach Demyx alone, and that was because Larxene and Marluxia hadn't wanted to be seen with Demyx and the people he now called his friends.

"Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?" His eyes flicked to the three people flanking Demyx.

"No, these are my friends, whatever you have to say you can say in front of them." Demyx thought he could almost feel the surprise from Roxas, Axel, and Xigbar, but none of them said anything to contradict him.

Zexion took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if trying to psych himself up for something. "Come back to us, Demyx," he said finally. "We miss you. _I _miss you. We can forget about…all this. I'm sure Ms. Wandall wouldn't care if we traded you for Luxord."

From this side of things Demyx could finally see just how cruel his former friends had been. Didn't they care about how _Luxord_ would feel about being traded like he was a playing card? Demyx couldn't help but glare at Zexion when he responded. "No, Zex. I like my group. I like my _friends _now. They aren't cruel to other people who aren't as popular as them."

Zex gave a derisive laugh and tried unsuccessfully to stifle it. "Think about this seriously, Demyx. We probably won't give you another chance."

"'We?'" Demyx asked, a little scorn entering his voice now. "In case you haven't noticed, you're alone." He took a step back so that Roxas, Axel, and Xigbar were between him and Zexion. "I've made my choice, Zex. I'm sorry if that disappoints you."

Demyx started to turn around to leave, and Zexion shouted out, "You'll have no chance for prom king, you know!"

This time Demyx did laugh. "Well, then I guess my life is over, isn't it?" And to further emphasize his decision Demyx linked his arm through Roxas's and lead the way out, with Axel and Xigbar following behind him.

They didn't stop praising Demyx until their pizza arrived.

"That was brilliant!" Roxas kept saying.

"Good for you," was Xigbar's sentiment.

Only Axel had been fairly quiet, except for laughing now and then as Xigbar made fun of what Zexion had said and how Demyx had reacted. As they each grabbed a slice of pizza Demyx decided to ask what was wrong.

"It's just…" he started, and paused. He took a bite of his pizza and tried to continue. "You were very definite in your answer. Are you sure this is what you want? I'm sure Zexion was telling the truth about not giving you another chance."

"I know he was, and yes I'm sure. For three years I cared so damn much about being liked, that I hadn't really realized the only people who liked me were the ones like Larxene and them. You guys are really nice, and I feel like such an idiot for not giving you a chance sooner."

"Not to mention an asshole," Xigbar added. Axel punched him hard on the shoulder and Xigbar choked on his pizza.

When he was done coughing Demyx continued. "He's right. I really was, but you still want to be friends with me. I just don't see why."

"It's because you really are nice. You just had to be knocked off your pedestal," Roxas said. Demyx smiled at him and the four of them ate their pizza. The conversation flowed quite easily, they talked about everything not related to school, and found they actually had a lot in common. When it was about time to go back they decided they should meet the next day, Saturday, and run through lines for their English performance. Since Xigbar and Axel lived across the street from each other, and Demyx just down the road from them, they decided to carpool over to Roxas's house.

They spent most of the next day actually working, and when it was almost evening and time for them to leave so Roxas could have dinner with his family they had some lines already memorized. They had also worked out a funny way of delivering the lines, so it would be fun for the rest of the class to watch. As Axel drove Xigbar and Demyx home he asked if either of them wanted to come over for dinner. They both agreed and Axel drove them to his house.

Demyx had never been in Axel's house before but it wasn't too weird. It felt like any normal house, he even had a dog that was adorable. They fixed a quick dinner, Demyx frying some grilled cheese and Axel cooking some mac and cheese to go with the sandwiches. When it was done he suggested they eat their dinner in his room so he and Xigbar could play video games, and that's when Demyx began to get a little anxious. He told himself it would be fine since Xigbar was there. He had started liking the fact that Xigbar became almost like a buffer between him and Axel when it was just the three of them. His knowing that Axel liked him, and had liked him for years, was certainly not helping the awkwardness.

He sat on Axel's bed while the guys played a video game. They had both offered to let Demyx play but he really didn't have any interest in it. Instead he started looking through Axel's CDs. He had a very interesting music collection; there seemed to be several CDs from every genre that existed. As Demyx flipped through them he became more interested to listen to some of the CDs, and when Axel saw his expression as he looked through the CD case he handed Demyx a CD player.

"You actually own a CD player still?" Demyx asked him. As soon as he had gotten his first iPod his CD player had mysteriously vanished and Demyx had never bothered looking for it.

"Of course I do. I have a walkman too, but I don't have that many cassettes."

Demyx flipped through a few pages quickly, pulled out a CD, and put it into the player. Axel watched him hesitantly for a while, and Demyx smiled at him to show he was enjoying it so Axel went back to his video game. Demyx lied down on the bed and closed his eyes, letting the CD take over his attention. After several songs had played he felt someone reach over and touch his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Axel standing there, smiling and pointing to the headphones. Demyx smiled back and took them off. Then he realized how much darker it had gotten outside.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the time. That was a good CD!" He said, handing the player and headphones back to Axel.

He took the player and sat down on the bed next to Demyx. "I'm glad you liked it, they're one of my favorite bands."

"Mine too." Demyx sat up. He suddenly realized that they were alone. "Where did Xigbar go?" He tried to ask as casually as he could.

"His dad came home early. He saw him pull up through the window and he wanted to go see if there was a breakthrough or anything on the missing persons case."

"Oh, will he tell you if there is?"

"Yeah, he said he'd call later tonight either way. He also wanted to see if…" Axel suddenly stopped talking. He looked embarrassed about something and started putting his CDs away.

"He wanted to see if what?" Demyx asked. But he thought he had an idea. Xigbar had purposely left them alone, wanting to see if anything would happen between them. That was Demyx's guess at least.

"Never mind," Axel said brusquely. "I should probably take you home before it gets too late." He stood up and offered his hand to Demyx to help him up.

He took his hand and got up to get his coat. "It's just down the road, I can walk."

"It's four blocks, I'd rather drive you."

"It would only take me about five minutes to walk."

"And it would be only too easy for someone to grab you and pull you into their car within those five minutes."

Demyx grinned up at Axel. "Are you worried about me, Axel?" He was definitely teasing him.

Axel rolled his eyes but his words were very serious. "Yes, it's not a very safe time right now for people to be walking alone at night. Even if it's only a few blocks."

Demyx couldn't help himself. He suddenly wrapped his arms around Axel's waist, pulling him into a very tight hug. Axel froze at his touch but relaxed almost instantly, hugging him back. When Demyx pulled away he realized he almost had tears in his eyes.

"What was that for?" Axel asked.

"I've never really had anyone worry about me except my parents." Demyx laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"Well get used to it. We're friends now and I care about you. And I'm sure I'm not the only one," Axel added a bit awkwardly.

Demyx smiled. "Thanks."

Axel drove him home and when Demyx got out of the car he turned back to see Axel was still parked on the side of the street. He waved goodbye and opened the door. Axel didn't leave until Demyx closed it behind him.

* * *

><p>AN: Chapter three might be up later tonight, but probably tomorrow :)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

As promised, here's the third chapter. Chapter 4 will be out sometime tomorrow :)

* * *

><p>Axel began driving Demyx to school every day. Xigbar joined them too, graciously taking the backseat every time. Demyx suspected Axel had something to do with this, but he wasn't complaining. In the passenger seat he felt more included which made things less awkward. After that first car ride Axel had made a very obvious effort to clean up his car. There was no longer any garbage on the floor, and it looked as if he had vacuumed the whole thing too.<p>

On the last Friday of April notices went up around the school, announcing that walking partners for graduation would need to be chosen soon. This was something Demyx been dreading slightly since he had stopped hanging out with Larxene. Larxene and him had always agreed that they would be walking partners, no matter what. Clearly that wasn't going to happen now. Demyx knew what he had to do, and so when Roxas took him to lunch that day he brought it up.

"Hey Roxas, would you want to be my walking partner for Grad Night?"

Roxas froze mid-bite, his fork suspended in front of his face. "Really?"

"Of course, did you think I was going to walk with someone else?"

Roxas put his fork down. "Well, I didn't really think about it at all. It just kind of came as a surprise."

"So…?" Demyx prodded.

"Oh, yes! Sorry," Roxas laughed. "Of course I will."

They went back to school and to their separate classes. Demyx's fifth period was one of his least favorites. It was Math, and it was the only class besides English that he had one of his previous friends in. Marluxia had refused to talk to him or sit anywhere near him after they had gone to lunch without him that one day. Demyx hadn't really minded, while Marluxia could be fun to hang out with he was very snobby and it had annoyed Demyx on several occasions when they had been friends.

Today, however, Marluxia sat down next to him. "Larxene wants to know who you plan on walking with."

Demyx tried to be as polite as he could, but Marluxia's tone had been incredibly superior sounding. "How is it any of her business?"

"She said that since you two had planned on walking together since freshman year that she deserves to know who you're walking with before everyone else does."

"Well she'll find out Grad Night, won't she?"

"Is it Axel?"

Demyx looked at him scornfully. "Axel and I are just friends. I haven't even talked to him since this morning when he drove me to school." Now that Demyx thought about it, he hadn't seen Axel's car when he and Roxas had come back from lunch. He had probably just been running late, Demyx told himself.

"So it's that new kid then, isn't it?"

"His name is Roxas. And yes, fine, he's my walking partner." Demyx hoped this would end their conversation, but Marluxia kept talking.

"It's such a shame, you know."

Demyx sighed. "What is, Marluxia?"

"What happened to him. We're actually surprised you're still here."

"What are you talking about? What happened to who?"

Marluxia hesitated. "You don't… know?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Well, I guess you really are out of the loop then." And with that he got up and moved to a seat across the room.

Demyx sat fuming. He tried to tell himself that Marluxia was trying to get him upset, that his words meant nothing, but something about them made Demyx feel uncomfortable. Marluxia really had seemed surprised that Demyx didn't know what he was talking about. But that was probably what he was trying to accomplish. Demyx took out his half finished homework and tried to focus on it so he could get it done before the class ended.

Axel wasn't waiting for him at his locker like he usually did now, so that he could give him a ride. Demyx saw Roxas pass by and called out to him.

"Have you seen Axel?"

"No, and Xigbar wasn't in sixth either."

Demyx told him what Marluxia had said during Math, but Roxas just brushed it aside saying Marluxia had probably noticed Axel wasn't there and he just wanted to upset Demyx. As Demyx rode the bus home he thought about what Roxas had said, and decided that if Marluxia had only wanted to upset him, he had certainly accomplished that. Demyx kept checking his phone obsessively. Xigbar and Axel both had his number now, and if something had happened surely one of them would call?

Demyx stayed downstairs in the living room most of the night. He hoped that if something had happened _someone _would come by and tell him. He had called Xigbar and Axel, on their cell phones and at their house, but hadn't gotten an answer anywhere. When he had called Axel's cell phone it hadn't actually gone through. Demyx finished all his homework while he sat downstairs. His parents had noticed something was wrong with him, but each time they asked he only replied that he just wanted to work downstairs tonight.

It was around nine o'clock when Demyx had decided that there really was nothing wrong, and that he might as well go up to his room for the night, when there was a knock on the door. This was what Demyx had been waiting for all night, but now that it had actually happened he couldn't find the strength to get up and answer the door. The person knocked a few more times, and tried ringing the doorbell, and finally Demyx's mom came in the room to answer it.

"Demyx, someone's at the door! Didn't you hear them?"

Demyx didn't answer but watched his mom as she went to answer the door. She opened it but Demyx was at the wrong angle to see who it was.

"Mrs. Hyde? I'm sorry to bother you so late, but is your son here?"

Demyx stood up and came to the door before his mom could say anything. He was surprised to find that his legs could still support him. When he saw that it was Xigbar's dad at the door, in his uniform, that support almost gave out.

"Officer, what's going on?" Demyx's mom asked.

He glanced over at Demyx and then back to his mom before answering. "There's been an accident. Axel and Xigbar were hit by a car when they were coming back from lunch." Demyx noticed how his voice faltered as he said his son's name.

"Are they okay?" Demyx asked.

"They're fine, more or less. The car that hit them ran a red light and t-boned them pretty good. He's in worse condition than the boys are."

"Can I see them?"

"Not tonight, Axel's asleep anyway. Xigbar was awake and he kept saying your name. I guess he figured you would want to know." Demyx nodded. "I can take you to see them in the morning." He glanced up at Demyx's mom. "If that's all right with you, ma'am."

"Of course. The boys will be okay, you said?"

"Eventually."

"What's that mean?" Demyx demanded before he had a chance to say anything else.

"Xigbar doesn't have any lasting injuries other than some pretty bad cuts and a possible concussion. The driver hit their car on Axel's side, though, and he's got a broken leg. It'll be a few weeks before he can walk on it, but he'll be fine soon enough."

Demyx's mom asked a few more questions and then Xigbar's dad left. She held her arm out to Demyx to comfort him. "It'll be all right, dear," she said.

"Yeah," Demyx ran up to his room and called Roxas. Roxas was shocked but soon he had to console Demyx because he had barely broken the news when he began breaking down into tears. Eventually Demyx calmed down enough, and Roxas promised to meet him at the hospital the next morning so he wouldn't have to go alone. When he and Roxas hung up Demyx curled up on his bed and laid there thinking.

Demyx didn't know why he had started crying. It had been years since he had cried. Of course he cared about them. Both of them. Xigbar and Axel were his friends now. He tried reasoning with himself: he had spent most of the day worrying that something was wrong only to have that fear realized. That must be why he was acting like he was right now. Surely if Larxene or Zexion had been in an accident when he had still been friends with them he would have reacted the same way. Deep down, though, part of Demyx thought that he wouldn't have felt the same. This got him wondering if maybe he had more feelings for Axel than he had previously thought. Demyx was suddenly worried about seeing him tomorrow, in such a vulnerable state, but he was glad Roxas was coming with him at least.

When Demyx's alarm went off the next morning he realized he had fallen asleep on top of his bed with his clothes still on. He got up to change and get ready, and found himself waiting for Xigbar's dad to come get him earlier than he expected. For some reason this bothered him. Why was he so much earlier than usual this morning? Then he realized it was because he hadn't eaten any breakfast. Demyx didn't have much of an appetite, though. Xigbar's dad showed up and drove him to the hospital. Roxas was already there, waiting for him, and he threw his arms around Demyx when he saw him. They waited while Xigbar's dad spoke to a receptionist, and then followed him down a hall.

They were in separate rooms, and Demyx had decided to see Xigbar first. He wanted to know why Xigbar had kept asking for him. And he also knew that he was going to be a complete wreck when he saw Axel. Hopefully delaying that moment would give him some time to compose himself. Roxas went in to see Axel and Demyx made his way into Xigbar's room while his dad waited outside.

Xigbar looked over at him as Demyx approached him. "Hey there."

"Hi," he croaked. "Are you all right?"

"Never better. I didn't really want to go to class today anyway."

Demyx tried to laugh, but the fact he was still trying to make a joke upset him and the tears started falling.

"Hey," he said suddenly, "don't do that. Come here." He held his arms out to him and Demyx walked into them gratefully. In truth he really didn't look that bad, but thinking about what could have happened made everything so much worse. "Calm down, Blondie. I'm fine."

"I know, I know."

"Axel's the one you should be crying over anyway."

That caused Demyx to jerk back from him. "What do you mean? Your dad said he only had a broken leg!"

"He does, he does! That's not what I meant. Axel's fine."

"Then what _did _you mean?"

Xigbar hesitated. "You can't tell Axel I said this."

Demyx rolled his eyes. "Fine, what is it?"

"Well I thought you already knew. That he likes you."

"Yeah, I do. I guess."

"To be honest, I'm surprised you're in here at all. I thought for sure he'd be the one you went to see first."

"I… can't yet. I won't be able to… I know I'll…" Demyx couldn't say that he knew he was going to start crying when he saw him without actually crying right then and there. Instead he tried changing the subject. "Your dad said that you were conscious when they brought you in here."

"Yeah."

"And that you kept saying my name." He eyed Xigbar carefully. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why _me_? Why _my _name, Xigbar?"

"I thought that was obvious, I thought you should know Axel was in here." This time he eyed Demyx carefully. "Do you like him, Demyx?"

"I… don't know. I haven't really given it much thought, until the accident."

"Why would the accident change anything?"

"I was so worried and scared. For both of you! I couldn't help but think maybe it was because of more than friendship."

"I see." He sat in thought for a while, then he looked back up at Demyx. "You should go see him now. He'll want to see you, and it'll make him happy to see that you care."

Demyx nodded and gave Xigbar another hug before he left. Roxas was standing beside the door, waiting, and they switched rooms. When Demyx walked into Axel's room he started walking very slow, postponing the moment when he would have to see how bad he was. Demyx took a deep breath, and walked over to his bed. It was worse than he had expected. His leg was up in a sling, all bandaged up, but so was his left arm. The left side of his face was bandaged too. He wasn't looking in Demyx's direction, in fact Demyx didn't think Axel realized he was there at all, until he choked on a sob. Axel looked over at him and the smile on his face was instantaneous and incredible. Demyx flung himself down on his right side, careful not to hit any of his injuries, and sobbed on his shoulder. Axel brought his right arm up to hold Demyx, and it was several minutes before he stopped crying so they could talk.

He looked up at him, his eyes still swimming with tears. Axel used his thumb to wipe some of them away, and before Demyx knew what he was doing he craned forward and kissed Axel. Demyx felt Axel's grip around his shoulders tighten, drawing him closer, and Axel kissed him back with vigor. Demyx reached his left hand forward to touch Axel's face, the side that wasn't injured, and planted kisses all along his cheek where he touched him. His forehead rested against Axel's for a moment, but then he drew back so they could actually talk. Axel's arm slipped away from around Demyx's shoulders as he did so, and Demyx clutched onto his hand, refusing to let go of him completely.

Axel looked at him curiously for a few moments, then said with a smile, "I always wondered what that would be like."

"I bet you never pictured it taking place in hospital," Demyx said jokingly.

"That's true," he admitted.

"So are you okay?" Demyx finally asked. "Xigbar's dad said you only had a broken leg."

"I do."

"So what is all this for?" He used his hand, still holding onto Axel's with a death grip, to gesture toward the bandages that covered his left side.

"Precaution, mostly. My arm was banged up pretty bad, but nothing broken. They just want to keep it elevated."

"And your head?"

"I had a pretty nasty cut that needed stitches. The bandages are just covering them."

Demyx nodded. He had made it seem so much worse in his head. He didn't care though, the main thing was that Axel was all right. Demyx smiled and reached one had forward to touch his face again. Axel closed his eyes at his touch, and he noticed how long his eyelashes were. His fingers left Axel's face and trailed down his arm, and Demyx started tracing the lines on his palm.

"What brought this on?" Axel asked.

"I'm not really sure. It just feels…right, doesn't it?" He looked him in the eyes questioningly. His green eyes that Demyx had never taken the time to appreciate before.

"My answer to that may be a bit biased," Axel answered with a smile. Demyx smiled back and leaned forward to kiss him again. His lips were so soft and warm, and he reveled in the delight he was feeling. At the same time he was both nervous and excited, and he didn't want the feeling to end. There had never been butterflies like this when he had kissed past boyfriends. Axel reached up to run his hands through Demyx's hair, and it was several moments before they broke apart.

Demyx pulled back again and Axel sighed. "I wish you could just stay here with me."

"Who says I'm going anywhere?"

"You can't stay in the hospital! I'm fine, go out and have fun."

"I'm staying here with you whether you like it or not. You can't exactly make me leave."

Axel grinned. "Even if I was physically able I don't think I could make myself do it."

Demyx snickered and laced their fingers together. They started talking about other things, and Demyx brought up what Marluxia had mentioned in class. Axel looked suddenly upset. He told Demyx that Marluxia's mom was a nurse there in the hospital.

"She must have told Marluxia as soon as Xigbar and I showed up."

"So he really did know something. Roxas thought he was only saying those things to make me upset."

"Why was he talking to you in the first place?"

"He told me Larxene wanted to know who my walking partner was. Apparently Larxene thinks that since we promised each other we would be walking partners back in freshman year that she at least has the right to know who I'm walking with before everyone else does."

"Who are you walking with?"

"I asked Roxas yesterday during lunch."

Axel smiled. "That was nice of you."

"I didn't do it to be nice, I want to walk with him." Demyx was getting a little annoyed at people saying that like they didn't expect him to be nice.

Axel realized he had offended Demyx and tried to hold up his hand in defense, but Demyx wasn't about to let go of it. "Sorry," Axel said, and squeezed his hand instead.

"Forget it. What happened to your phone by the way?"

"What?"

"I tried calling you before Xigbar's dad came by and the call wouldn't go through."

"Oh, it got smashed in the accident. It was in my pocket."

"Oh," they lapsed into silence then. After a bit Axel spoke up and they started talking about the English project. Demyx finally left Axel's side around lunchtime, but only to get them both something to eat that wasn't from the hospital cafeteria. Roxas had long since gone home, and Xigbar's dad had gone to work after Xigbar's doctor had decided Xigbar could leave. He only left to go home and get a change of clothes, but then he came back to join Demyx in Axel's room. When it was around dinner time Demyx went out again to get some food for the three of them, and when he came back he saw Xigbar waiting in the hall outside Axel's room.

"His parents are in there right now," he explained.

"Oh. How are they?"

"Fine, the doctor's just telling them what's going to happen with Axel."

"And?"

"Well he says Axel will have to be here for a few more days, then they'll put a cast on him. After that he can leave, but he'll need to come back so they can check out his leg and maybe put him in a walking boot."

Xigbar had barely finished when the doctor came out of the room, followed by Axel's parents. His mom gave Xigbar a quick hug, and she turned to Demyx while Axel's dad shook Xigbar's hand.

"Are you Demyx?" She asked.

"Yes." Demyx had no idea how she knew his name, but assumed Axel must talk about him at home a little.

Without warning, Axel's mom pulled Demyx into a tight hug. "We're so glad he's going to be okay. Thank you so much for being with him. His friends are what will pull him through ultimately." She drew back and gave Demyx a warm, teary-eyed smile.

Demyx had no idea what to say to that, so he just smiled as politely as he could. Axel's dad shook his hand too and they left. Xigbar and Demyx entered Axel's room again and Demyx sat on his bed next to him. Axel automatically put his arm around Demyx as he handed him and Xigbar their food.


	4. Chapter 4

Axel was in the hospital for about a week, then he stayed home for a few days. Demyx and Xigbar visited him every day. Roxas couldn't come by every day, since he lived further away, but he still came to see Axel once in a while. When Axel was finally able to go back to school Demyx walked him to all of his classes and carried his stuff. Axel didn't like this arrangement at first, but eventually agreed that he did need someone to help him get to class. Although he could hobble around on his crutches pretty well, he couldn't do it at the same time as carrying his books and homework. Demyx didn't mind at all; he was just happy that he got to spend more time with him.

"Why do you do this?" Axel asked him one day.

"Do what?"

"Carry my stuff to every class, every single day? It makes you late for your own classes, so why do you do it?"

"You already answered your question. It's because I have an excuse to be late to all my classes, everyday." Demyx smiled up at him to let him know he was joking.

"I knew it had to be something like that. You're not late for English, though."

"I know, the one class I make it to on time. I'll have to do something about that."

"Seriously though. Xigbar could help get me to some of my classes, you don't have to walk me to every one."

"I _want _to, Axel." He put a hand on Axel's arm so he would stop. He turned to look at Demyx as he planted a small kiss on his lips. "It gives me more time to spend with you."

Axel smiled back at him and they continued walking. Demyx had been telling the truth, too. He walked Axel to his classes every day because he really did want to spend time with Axel. Amazingly, not a lot of people knew they were dating. Since Axel used crutches he didn't exactly have a free hand that Demyx could hold as they walked down the halls, and they tended to keep the public affection to a minimum by some unspoken agreement. All of Demyx's past relationships had been nothing like this. They had all seemed to only want him around as eye candy or away to boost their own popularity. He was glad Axel was taking him seriously and respecting him, but part of his old life still lingered and wanted to be gossiped about. Of course he hadn't told Axel this, or anyone for that matter, because he didn't think that was how he _should _be feeling. Axel didn't seem to care that no one was gossiping about them, so Demyx took it as a sign he shouldn't either. The warning bell rang as Demyx was only feet from the door. He actually hadn't been late to class; Axel would have been proud. He walked to his seat smiling, and was surprised when Marluxia sat down next to him.

He slammed his books down on the table and glared at Demyx. "I hope you're happy!"

"I am, actually. But about what in particular?"

"They chose the nominees for Prom King, and you're one of them!"

"_What?_" Demyx was just as surprised as Marluxia was, although much less angry.

"I know! I couldn't believe it either. Well, I just wanted to let you know you have no chance of winning. Lexaeus is a candidate too, and he's _much _more popular than you." Marluxia didn't stay to chat, he picked up his books and stomped off to another seat.

Prom King! Demyx had completely forgotten Prom was just in a couple weeks. He knew he had no shot at being crowned, but the thought of still being a nominee was incredible. The rest of his classes passed in a daze as he daydreamed about winning and getting to dance the spotlight dance with Axel. It wasn't until he was waiting with him for Xigbar to get out of class that he brought it up.

"So, I talked to Marluxia in Math today."

Axel looked over at him and he could tell it was taking him a lot not to drop his mouth open in horror. Demyx almost laughed. "What did you talk about?"

"Well, he did most of the talking. And only then it was to remind me about losing my popularity status."

"What was it about, Demyx?"

Demyx took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm a candidate for Prom King." He watched Axel's reaction carefully, wanting to gauge his response before Demyx showed his own.

Axel's face betrayed nothing, though, and he asked, "Do you want to be Prom King?"

"It doesn't matter," Demyx said quickly. "Lexaeus is also a candidate, big surprise, and he'll squash me."

"You didn't answer my question."

He looked Axel in the eye, knowing he couldn't lie to him. "Yes, I guess I do." He sighed.

Axel put his weight on his uninjured leg so he could use a hand to lift Demyx's chin up. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be Prom King. I'm sure every guy in this school would love to even be a candidate, it's probably a great ego boost." He looked at Demyx seriously for a few more seconds before adding, "I always wanted to date the Prom King."

Demyx playfully punched his arm and Axel pretended to wince. "Well, unless you plan on dumping me for Lexaeus -"

"Never."

"- then you won't be dating the Prom King."

"Well, I don't know about that."

Demyx looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, there's a lot more unpopular students here than there are popular ones."

"So? Most of them will follow Larxene like sheep, and she wants Lexaeus to win."

"Unless we show them you're a better person to win."

"What are you thinking, Axel?"

"I don't know yet, just let me and Xigbar come up with something."

"You'll run you're idea by me before you actually do anything, right?"

"Of course. Ah, speak of the devil!"

Xigbar walked up to them then, looked from Axel's grin to Demyx's frown, and knew something was up. "What's going on, guys?"

"Demyx's been nominated for Prom King!" Axel actually sounded quite proud to be saying that.

Xigbar looked hesitatingly between the two of them. "Congratulations…?"

"Thanks," Demyx mumbled.

"For Prom King you're going to have to be a lot more cheerful, you know," Xigbar teased.

Demyx shook his head and buried his face in Axel's shirt.

"He doesn't think he'll win. I told him we'd come up with something." Axel explained.

"I see. Well, no promises kiddo, but I bet we can do something."

Demyx was getting ready to go to sleep when his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up and it was Axel, sounding very excited about something. Suddenly Demyx was nervous, and Axel told him he and Xigbar had discovered a way to win some votes. Demyx listened as he explained his scheme, and had to admit in the end he certainly thought it would win him some votes. He doubted it would be enough to overtake Lexaeus, but told Axel he would give it a shot nonetheless. His plan was to use the internet. At first Demyx hadn't understood what difference that would make, until Axel explained all the various ways a lot of the unpopular kids were connected online. From video blogs, to website forums, and much, much more. It sounded like a good plan, and Demyx was willing to at least try.

The first thing Axel wanted him to do was make a video, explaining the situation and showing his real personality. So Demyx went to Axel's house the next day and tried to make a video. It took a really long time, but it was a lot of fun and Axel, Xigbar, and even Roxas were in it too. They put the video up online and did their best to spread it around to as many other websites as they could. Within a few days, Axel reported back to him that their video was getting a lot of attention and support. Meanwhile all they could do was wait until Election Day, which wasn't for another week. People were actually coming up to Demyx in the halls and telling him he had their vote. Every time this happened was more surreal than the last, and while Demyx was gracious and thankful he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

Axel and Xigbar were unrelenting, they both promoted it as much as they could: they had taped flyers up all around the school - at Demyx's consent - and only backed down from proposing a school-wide assembly when Demyx threatened to beat both of them to within an inch of their life. Roxas, on the other hand, was neutral ground. He did whatever the boys asked him to, assuming they had talked to Demyx first about whatever it was, but he didn't volunteer any humiliating plans and for that Demyx was thankful. Roxas also offered moral support to Demyx, but whenever Demyx complained about the boys Roxas grew mysteriously quiet and just nodded along. Demyx suspected that even though Roxas was supposedly neutral, he was actually on Axel and Xigbar's side and was secretly supporting every effort they made.

Demyx couldn't find much to complain about, though. While the attention wasn't exactly new for him, the reason behind it was. People now had no doubt that he and Axel were dating, and during English he caught Larxene throwing nasty looks at him and then burying herself in conversation with Zexion, Marluxia, and Luxord. Whenever this happened Axel and Xigbar would look very proud of themselves and would only tell Demyx that he clearly had Larxene worried about Lexaeus losing. This was very encouraging to Demyx, and he soon let the boys have complete control of the reigns. If he was being honest with himself, Demyx had to admit that at least he was having fun. He didn't think things would have ever been going the same way if he was still friends with Larxene, and he was thankful now more than ever for his new friends.

The Monday of Prom week started out very hectic. It was also spirit week, so class competition was going strong amongst everything else. Axel's doctor had finally decided his leg was okay enough for a walking cast, so he could at least get around without crutches now.

"And that means you can't use me as an excuse to be late for class anymore," he told Demyx jokingly one day.

"Damn. I guess it's over then. I'll need to find someone else I can take care of and have a reason to be late," he teased.

"You guys are so cute it's disgusting," Xigbar said from behind his math book. He looked up at them. "Don't you remember what today is?"

"Monday," said Roxas.

"Very good, Einstein. And what happens Monday of Prom Spirit Week?"

"Voting for Prom King and Queen," Demyx said, suddenly hushed.

"That's right. And from the looks of responses to your video, you have a ton of people voting for you today."

"And if I win I get to dance the spotlight dance with Axel," Demyx said, leaning against him. He realized the three of them were looking at him a little taken aback. "What? What's wrong with you guys?"

"Demyx," Axel began hesitantly, "The King and Queen dance the spotlight dance together."

Demyx felt like such an idiot. Of course the King and Queen danced together! He had completely forgotten because usually the candidates for King and Queen were always dating each other, so when one person was elected King or Queen it just seemed natural that whoever they were dating was also elected. Demyx would not be dancing the spotlight dance with Axel.

He suddenly felt sick and closed his eyes. "I don't want to dance with Larxene!" He looked up and met Axel's eyes. "I want to dance with you."

"You will, the whole dance before the announcement and then the rest of the dance. You'll only be dancing with her for one song."

"I may not win," he said, suddenly wishing he wouldn't.

"After all the trouble we went through?" Xigbar said indignantly. "You'd better win."

"Xigbar -"

"It was a joke, Axel. Besides, if they do announce him as King he'll be so caught up in the excitement that he won't even notice he's dancing with someone other than you."

Roxas punched his shoulder, and not very playfully. Nothing they were saying was making Demyx feel any better. He did his best to try to melt into Axel's arms that were around him and just disappear. He made it sound like it really wouldn't matter that Demyx was dancing with someone else. After all, it was only one dance. But it meant something to Demyx. He wasn't a completely different person from who he was before Axel and his new friends, just a better person, but the person left over from who he was before wanted to dance the spotlight dance with someone he cared about.

The votes were kept as a secret. Only when the announcement was made at the dance would anybody find out the results. Demyx tried not to think too much about it throughout the week while events were going on. It was without a doubt one of the best times he'd had, no doubt due to his new friends. The week past quickly and luckily Demyx had his hands full with competitions and events, trying his best to help the senior class win. Which they did.

* * *

><p>Sorry for a short chapter, but there was a giant section I had to cut out. It was very pointless and just bad writing. I'll try to get chapter 5 out later today if I can for you, but if I'm too busy it will be out first thing tomorrow morning!<p>

Hope you're still enjoying the story :)


	5. Chapter 5

Had some extra time to edit this, so here you go! The next chapter to make up for the short last chapter :)

* * *

><p>Demyx and Roxas spent all day Saturday together, mostly just hanging out and playing video games. Around five o'clock Xigbar pulled up in front of Demyx's house. Him and Axel waited in the living room until Demyx and Roxas came down the stairs, completely dressed in their Prom attire. Demyx went to Axel and gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. He looked really good, despite the fact his left leg was still in a walking cast. Axel said he didn't mind this at all though, he would still dance with Demyx as long as he wanted to. They left Demyx's house to pick up Xigbar and Roxas's dates. Xigbar had asked a short girl with black hair named Xion to be his date, while Roxas had invited a pretty blond named Namine.<p>

Xigbar drove the six of them out to a restaurant where they were going to have dinner. They had picked one of the nicest restaurants in town, and they weren't the only ones. Prom must put people in really great spirits, though, because a couple they met at the restaurant greeted the six of them like friends. The girl, Kairi she said her name was, told Demyx that she had voted for him as Prom King. Demyx thanked her and the Maitre De took them to their table. While they waited for their food they talked and joked. Xigbar resorted to making fun of both Xion and Namine's dresses, rather than actually tell them they looked good. When their food came they each had a couple bites, and then traded plates in order to try everyone else's food. Some of the other customers looked scandalized when they saw them do this, but they didn't care: they were having one of the best nights in their lives. After they had eaten as much of their meal as they dared, they then decided to order dessert.

After they had all gorged themselves they had about forty-five minutes until the dance actually started, so Xigbar drove them out to the beach where they got up on the hood and roof of the car and sat watching the waves. Xigbar actually wanted to go down to the beach, but Axel couldn't very easily in his brace and Xion and Namine flat out refused to go in their dresses, even if they did take off their heels.

"Are you nervous?" Axel asked Demyx.

"About what?"

"The results!" Xigbar exclaimed.

"Oh, actually I'd forgotten about them until now. Thanks, guys," Demyx was trying to be sarcastic, but amidst his tone there was also actual anxiety.

"Don't worry about it, Demyx," Roxas said. "Just have a good time. If you win, great! But if not, it's not the end of the world, right?"

Demyx looked over at Axel who was gazing out at the waves. He smiled and said, "Right. You guys won't ditch me just because I don't win Prom King."

"Well…" Xigbar started, but Axel pushed him off the car. They all started laughing as Xigbar stood up, brushing dirt and rocks off of his suit, and eventually they decided it was time to leave. Xigbar drove them to the event center where the dance was being held, and when he pulled up into the parking lot they all gasped. It looked like the outside of a movie premier, with a red carpet and velvet ropes lining the path, and even search lights were on. Demyx recalled that the theme was supposed to be Hollywood, and they certainly pulled off the look from the outside at least. Xigbar parked the car and they all got out.

Other couples were walking up the red carpet now, and strobe lights were flashing to imitate camera flashes. Demyx had to admit: he thought it was very well done. Axel offered him his arm, which he took, and they led the other two couples up the carpet. At the doors they were asked for their tickets and IDs, and then they were permitted to enter. At first there was nothing but darkness, but they could see light ahead and they clumsily made their way towards it. They were in some kind of hall, and the light was coming through a door. Axel opened the door and they were bombarded by music.

"At least we know we're in the right place," Xigbar joked. They laughed and walked into the main room. There was a huge television screen behind the DJ's table which was playing some old, black and white movie with the sound off. Tables and chairs lined the two walls on either side of the room, but not by the movie and not on the side they had just entered. On their side were more tables, but they were covered with food and drinks. In the middle of the room was the dance floor, which only had a handful of people on it at the moment. Demyx knew from experience that as soon as more people showed up, there would be so many people dancing that some of them would be spilling off of the dance floor.

Roxas and Xigbar offered to get drinks while Demyx, Axel, and the girls went to find a table. Each seat had a place setting with a piece of paper you could write your name on - to claim that seat if you wanted to. The place settings also had decorative glasses the students could keep as souvenirs, decorated with the classic Hollywood sign and the year. Roxas and Xigbar came back, handing the drinks around and they sat down at their place settings.

In less than ten minutes enough people had showed up that everyone else was feeling less self-concious and the dance floor was getting crowded. The six of them made their way out to a somewhat less crowded spot and started dancing. The DJ played a good mix of fast and slow songs, and even threw in several that caused the crowd to cheer wildly.

"Are you having fun?" Axel asked Demyx during a slow song, about an hour and a half into the dance.

"Tons," Demyx yelled back and kissed Axel. He laid his head against Axel's chest and felt him pull him close. It was kind of awkward for Axel to dance with the brace, but they made do. When the song ended another fast one started and they made their way back to their table to get drinks. Xigbar came over to them with a couple plates of strawberries, so they all sat drinking punch and eating strawberries for a while. A couple times throughout the night some people would start a dance-off, which would result in everyone forming a circle while a handful of people took turns showing off their best dance moves. Everyone not dancing clapped and cheered for the best, and then they would all go back to dancing amongst their smaller groups. At one point Demyx walked by Larxene pulling Lexaeus, her date, off the dance floor as Demyx and his friends went back to it. She didn't give Demyx a second glance.

There was only an hour left of the dance when the music stopped playing and the student body president stood up at the DJ table to announce the King and Queen. Demyx suddenly felt like his suit was five sizes too small and he couldn't breathe; the only thing keeping him from running out of the building for air was Axel's arm firmly around his shoulders. The president arranged the winners' gifts on the table: a crown for the King, a tiara for the Queen, and sashes for them both. All the students continued to talk until the president picked up a microphone and a hum started coming from the speakers, signaling that she had turned the microphone on. Everyone in the room was suddenly hushed, and the president spoke.

"Welcome to Prom 2011!" She yelled. The audience screamed and applauded in response. "With only an hour to go," she continued, "it's time to announce your Prom King and Queen!" More cheers and applause. "It was a very close race on both accounts. So without further ado, I give you your 2011 Prom Queen -" she opened an envelope and unfolded the paper inside, Demyx watched with tremendous anticipation, "- Larxene Widgemore!"

Demyx rolled his eyes but clapped politely along with the rest of the crowd. No surprises there. Larxene walked up to the DJ table and stood while her sash and tiara were placed on her. The president picked up the microphone again. "There she is, your 2011 Prom Queen! Isn't she gorgeous?" The audience cheered again. "Now she just needs her King." Those appeared to be the magic words because everyone had once again fallen silent. "An even tighter race than for Queen, this year's Prom King is – Demyx Hyde!"

Demyx felt his knees give out but Axel was holding onto him so tightly that he didn't even sag an inch. Roxas threw his arms around Demyx's neck and was yelling something in his ear, but Demyx couldn't hear it over the sheer volume of the audience: they were all screaming and cheering like maniacs. The only things that finally got him walking towards the DJ table was his fearing of losing his hearing if he continued to stay rooted in the middle of this explosion. Axel walked with him to the table, and he knew he wouldn't have been able to do it without him. He let go of Demyx when he reached the table and Demyx walked around it alone, where the president shouted her congratulations, then slid the sash over Demyx and placed the crown on his head. Demyx looked out at the still-cheering crowd and saw Axel, immediately in front of Demyx, beaming at him.

Demyx made up his mind on the spot. He had been voted King, and he was going to dance the spotlight dance with who he wanted to. He approached the president and gestured for the microphone which she handed to him, looking curious. Demyx tapped it to get everyone's attention. "I'd like to thank those of you who voted for me," there was more cheering and Demyx paused, waiting for them to quiet down a bit. Larxene looked as if she would like nothing more than to shove the microphone down Demyx's throat. "As your King for this year, I'd like to propose a new rule: The elected Prom King and Queen shall have the choice to dance with whoever they choose for the Spotlight Dance. Axel? Would you come up here?"

The crowd erupted into applause yet again, though it was interrupted with handfuls of people talking as they clapped, probably trying to sort out each other's confusion. Axel hadn't moved at all, he just stood there staring at Demyx looking as if he had suddenly slapped him across the face. Demyx laughed and motioned for him to come up, which he finally did. He came up to Demyx, still completely shocked, and Demyx couldn't wait any longer and he threw his arms around Axel and kissed him. They broke apart to stand before their peers, still holding hands, and Demyx saw Xigbar and Roxas yelling theirselves hoarse. Axel was still looking stunned, so Demyx gave his hand a quick squeeze and when he looked down at Demyx and saw that he was grinning brightly he finally smiled. Demyx walked over to Larxene, shakily holding out the microphone to her.

"What are you _doing?_" She hissed at Demyx.

Demyx merely shrugged, not in the mood for dealing with Larxene. "Would you rather dance with me, or your date?"

Larxene looked taken aback at the question, but grabbed the microphone nonetheless and asked for Lexaeus to join her. The four of them made their way to the dance floor and people moved to form a circle around them. A song started up, the one chosen by the student body to be used as the song for the spotlight dance. When the spotlight turned on and fell on them Demyx could feel its heat, but the only thing he was aware of was Axel. They danced for the whole song while everyone else watched, and Demyx felt his mouth starting to hurt from smiling so much. Axel couldn't stop smiling either, as they revolved slowly on the spot. Demyx was only aware of the song ending when they were joined on the dance floor by everyone else. Xigbar and Roxas were with them in seconds, their dates close behind, congratulating Demyx. They could barely hear each other over the music so they went back to their table to talk.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Axel asked, still somewhat astounded.

"I told you I didn't want to dance with anyone but you," Demyx said, smiling.

"I didn't even know you could make a rule like that," Xigbar said.

"I'm King," he said simply.

They laughed and walked back out to the dance floor. A couple songs went by and soon people started leaving. There was only thirty minutes left when they started talking about leaving themselves since they were getting tired and they wanted to go hang out alone for a while. As they started walking off the dance floor Demyx noticed the door open up and Larxene came running through it screaming. One of her heels was broken and her tiara was lopsided. She continued running and screaming, and the DJ had turned off the music to see if something was wrong. Larxene ran straight towards Demyx and threw herself into Demyx's bewildered arms, sobbing.

"Larxene, what's wrong?" Demyx asked desperately.

"He - he took -" she tried gasping for air between sobs.

"Who took what, Larxene?" Demyx saw Marluxia and Luxord running up to them.

Larxene continued gasping but she finally spluttered, "Someone abducted Zexion!" She continued crying on Demyx's shoulder. Xigbar whipped his phone out of his pocket before anyone had time to do anything else and stepped a few paces away to talk to someone. Some teachers were finally rushing up to them to find out what was wrong.

Marluxia and Luxord were finally caught up to them. "What _happened?_" Demyx asked them.

"I'm not sure," Marluxia started, "we were walking a few paces behind them. We were talking about… well, we heard Larxene scream and when we looked towards her we saw her down on the ground and a black car was speeding off."

"We ran up to her," Luxord jumped in, "and saw her heel was broken. We tried to help her up and find out what happened to Zexion but as soon as she was on her feet she took off running back to the building."

Larxene clutched onto Demyx tighter and sobbed even harder. Xigbar came back to them then just as the teachers had nearly reached them. "My dad's on his way with backup." He told them. He placed his hand comfortingly on Larxene's back. She looked up at him as he told her, "Larxene, just calm down a little. My dad's a cop, and he's going to need you to tell him everything you possibly can when he gets here."

She unlocked her arms from around Demyx's neck and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, tears still streaming down her face but at least she wasn't sobbing uncontrollably anymore. Teachers and other students had finally approached them when they could hear sirens reaching the building.

Xigbar's dad came running into the building and went straight to them. He looked at Xigbar for a second, who gestured to Larxene. His dad looked over at Larxene. "Larxene Widgemore?" He asked. She nodded. "I'm going to need you to come outside and show me exactly what happened. Can you do that?"

Larxene nodded again and she started walking out the door with Marluxia's support. Demyx stood awkwardly back, not sure if he should go with or not, and Larxene stopped and looked back at him. "Demyx, please?" She asked hesitantly. Demyx nodded silently and followed, not letting go of Axel's hand. Xigbar's dad didn't look especially pleased that five people in addition to Xigbar and Larxene were coming with them out of the building, but he only told the teachers to keep the rest of the students inside until he told them otherwise.

Larxene walked straight towards the sidewalk and stopped where there was a piece of blue plastic on the ground: her broken heel. "I was right here," she started, "talking with Zex while he waited for his ride."

"Who was coming to get him?" Xigbar's dad asked quickly.

"His cousin. He's in town for the week and Zex's parents are asleep, so he agreed to come get him because I didn't want to go home yet, and I was going to be his ride."

"You two were out here alone?"

"We were following behind them," Marluxia added.

"Continue, please," Xigbar's dad said to Larxene.

"We were arguing and I didn't notice the car pull up until they stopped in front of us."

"What kind of car?"

"Erm…black." Larxene shrugged unhelpfully.

"Did either of you see it?" He asked Marluxia and Luxord.

"I saw it," Luxord answered, "but I don't know anything about cars. I only saw that it was black. I was mostly concentrating on Larxene being on the ground." Marluxia nodded his agreement.

"What were you and Zexion arguing about?"

"Is that really relevant?" Larxene looked nervously at Demyx as she spoke.

"Any little bit may help," Xigbar's dad answered.

"We… we were arguing about the voting results," she glanced nervously at Demyx again and plowed on. "I was unhappy that my date wasn't Prom King, and he was telling me we should be happy for Demyx. I got angry at him and turned to go back to the building when the car pulled up. I stopped for a second because they had come in the wrong direction, when the driver threw open the door and grabbed him."

"Did you see the driver?" Xigbar's dad was getting anxious now.

"Not much of him, I knew it wasn't Zex's cousin because I'd met him before, and this guy was about three times the size of him. I heard Zex try to yell but I think the guy had his hand over his mouth, and when I tried to help he shoved me and I fell. That's how my heel broke."

"What happened next?"

"He picked him up and threw him into the backseat -"

"Through his driver's door or another one?"

"Another one."

"So it was a four-door?"

"I - I think so."

"What happened after he threw him in the car?"

Larxene had started to cry again. "He just got back in and drove off. There was nothing I could do!"

"It's going to be all right, Miss Widgemore," Xigbar's dad said consolingly. "We're going to do everything we can to find your friend." He walked back to the other cops.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry for the little stall this story took, I found myself unexpectedly busy in holiday preparation. But now I'm back on track!

Also, a quick thank you to **Slytheringrl573** for being the first to review this story (:

* * *

><p>No one was quite the same after Zexion was abducted. The other kids that had been abducted had been nearly unknown except to their friends. Zexion, on the other hand, was one of the most popular kids in the school. And probably the most liked of them, even when Demyx had been considered one of them. Larxene and her friends hadn't spoken a word to Demyx since it happened. They didn't even bother to acknowledge that they had spoken that night, let alone talked about the fact that Larxene had come running to Demyx and had cried uncontrollably on his shoulder. This didn't really bother Demyx too much.<p>

School continued to be as boring as ever, and Ms. Wandall pushed them to work on their performances every day. Larxene's group tried to ask her to go easy on them since they were now a member short, but Ms. Wandall grinned her evil little grin and just told them to continue working. As graduation was in three weeks, they only had the next week to finish up their performances because the week after that they would all be performing. Thinking about this only made Demyx incredibly nervous, so he tried to think about it as little as possible.

Since his birthday was coming up later that week, that wasn't such a hard thing to accomplish. Axel was pressuring him to make up his mind about the plans. He couldn't decide if he wanted an end of the year blow-out, or just a small party with the four of them. Axel kept telling him that if he didn't start telling people about it soon, then he wouldn't be able to have a big party because no one would be able to make it.

"I know, Axel," he said exhaustedly as Axel started to bring up the subject for the third time that day while Demyx was over at his house.

"I'm just wondering if it's what you really want. It honestly won't make any difference to me as long as you're happy."

"Thanks, Axel, but I think I've made up my mind."

"And?"

"I just want to have a small party with the four of us."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I thought about it and I decided that you guys are my real friends, and that I just want to celebrate with you."

"Well, I know Roxas will be happy about that. He was nervous about a big party."

"Why would he be nervous?"

"He doesn't know anyone apart from us. You, on the other hand, were Prom King. You don't have a problem socializing like he does."

Demyx looked across Axel's room to where he sat on his bed. "What about you?" He asked.

"I told you, I'm happy as long as you're happy."

"But you must have had a preference one way or the other."

"Nope."

Demyx got up from Axel's computer chair and walked over to him. He had been lying down on his bed reading a book when he brought up the conversation. Demyx moved his book off his lap and took its place. He gazed into Axel's eyes and tried to be as seductive as he could. "I have ways of making you talk, you know."

Axel looked him back in the eyes and grinned mischievously. "Bring it on."

Demyx leaned down and started kissing him. No matter how many times they did this, he still got the same feelings: butterflies in his stomach, an intense feeling of passion and self-confidence, and above all else a yearning deep in his gut.

Demyx pulled back after a bit and asked with a smile, "What do you have to say now?"

"I love you," Axel said immediately.

Demyx's smile disappeared from complete shock. He looked at Axel curiously for a few moments. It was the first time either of them had said it to each other, and he had no doubt that he really did love Axel. But he wanted to make sure Axel meant what he had said and that it wasn't just because Demyx had gotten him hot and excited. "Really?"

"Of course," he said without hesitation. "I've liked you since freshman year. I think I really started loving you since that day you went to lunch with Roxas."

Demyx's answering smile was brilliant. He couldn't help himself as he leaned down and started kissing the redhead again. Axel certainly wasn't going to complain, and after several long moments Demyx finally pulled away to say, "I love you too."

Axel smiled back at him and gave him a small, soft kiss. "It's getting late, I should take you home."

Demyx stood up reluctantly and got his things. They walked out to Axel's car and he opened the door for him. Demyx watched him walk around the car back to his side and he got in. He started the car and drove him down the street to his house. When they were there, only about twenty seconds later, he told Axel goodnight and gave him a kiss, then he went inside.

When he woke up on his birthday a few days later, he didn't feel any different. He never did on his birthday. He thought today he actually might, though, since he was eighteen now, but he didn't. Demyx got ready for school and waited downstairs for Axel to honk. Which he did only moments later. When he got into his car Axel handed him a small box and wished him happy birthday. Demyx opened it to find a few CDs he had told Axel he wanted and a brand new guitar pick that he'd been eyeing at the music store a few weeks back. He thanked Axel, giving him a kiss. Xigbar was in the backseat and he told Demyx he would have to wait until his party later that night to get his gift.

The day passed quickly enough, and soon Demyx was home again but this time Axel, Xigbar, and Roxas were all there with him. His parents had made him a cake, they all sang him happy birthday, he blew out the candles, and then the four of them were left alone. They turned on music and talked, and just generally had a good time.

"Weird, isn't?" Xigbar asked.

"What's that?" Demyx responded.

"We're going to be graduating soon! Then it's off to college."

"I won't be in college next year," said Roxas.

"What are you doing?" Axel asked him.

"I'm travelling. I've been saving up, and I'm taking a year off to go to Destiny Islands."

"That sounds incredible!" Demyx said enviously. "I wish I could come."

"Well you could, if you had several thousand dollars and didn't mind not going to college for a year."

"I don't mind the no school for a year part, but I don't have several thousand dollars."

"Yeah I've been saving up since freshman year."

"You could always rob a bank, Demyx," Xigbar said with sarcasm.

"Very funny, Xigbar," Axel said.

"Oh, I forgot, college is a touchy subject for you guys because you won't be going to the same school, will you?" Xigbar teased.

Axel pushed him hard enough for him to stumble, but he kept his balance and didn't fall over. "We'll be fine," he said shortly. "We applied and got accepted to our colleges before we'd even started talking this year. There wouldn't be much point in changing schools right now."

"Maybe next year," Demyx added because Axel didn't look very happy.

He smiled at him. "Yeah, maybe. We'll see how things go."

"Maybe you could do a study abroad thing this year, and come visit me," Roxas said hopefully.

"In our freshman year?" Xigbar asked doubtfully.

"You're determined to bring us down tonight, aren't you, Xigbar?" Demyx teased.

"Sorry, I guess I just don't really want to talk about college."

"You're the one who brought it up," Axel pointed out.

"I didn't really mean to, it was just a throw away comment."

"Why don't you want to talk about college?" Demyx asked curiously.

"Because I want to be a cop, like my dad, but this investigation that's going on right now makes me wonder if I'd be any good at it." He kicked a seashell into the ocean as he walked.

"Xigbar, you're just nervous," Roxas said consolingly.

"Yeah I suppose."

About an hour before Roxas had to be home he pulled Demyx off to the side and asked if he could give his gift in private. Demyx nodded and led him up to his room.

Roxas closed the door behind him as Demyx sat down on his bed. "Why is it a big secret, Roxas?"

"It's not really, I just wanted to see your reaction before the other guys." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. He looked at it hesitantly, then handed it to Demyx.

Demyx took it and looked up at Roxas curiously. He opened the envelope and pulled out a brochure which had no writing on it. Demyx opened up the brochure and found a plane ticket inside. It was for the summer, and it was a flight to Destiny Islands.

Demyx looked up at Roxas, trying to formulate a sentence, but Roxas got there first. "I leave this summer, and I thought it would be amazing if you came with. Just for the summer."

Demyx still didn't know what to say. The ticket had to be several hundred dollars, probably more so at this late date. He continued to stare at Roxas speechless.

"Please say you'll come with," Roxas begged.

"Roxas, I'd love to, but this is too much," Demyx said finally.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't accept this, it must have cost a fortune!"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I had some free miles and I got a discounted price."

"Still -"

"Please, Demyx, I don't want to go by myself. Don't you want to come?"

"Of course I do! But this -"

"Then just come. Please?"

Demyx looked at Roxas, now sitting on the bed next to him and pleading with his eyes, and he couldn't say no. Roxas very obviously wanted him to come with, and if he was honest with himself Demyx really wanted to go. But a plane ticket was such an expensive gift, especially from someone who has only been your friend for a couple months. Roxas continued to stare at him, silently begging, and Demyx said, "Fine. I'll go."

"Yay!" Roxas threw himself onto Demyx and hugged him tightly. Demyx was caught off guard but hugged him back. His door opened and Xigbar walked in.

"Oh," he said with a slight grin on his face. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He looked pointedly at their embrace and Demyx got what he was hinting at.

"What do you want, Xigbar?" He asked, disentangling himself from Roxas.

"Axel said Roxas was up here giving you his gift, so I thought I would too."

Roxas stood up. "I'm so glad you're coming with," he said to Demyx. "Besides, the ticket was nonrefundable." And with that he left.

Xigbar closed the door behind him and joined Demyx on his bed. "Ticket for what?"

"I'm going to Destiny Islands with this summer," Demyx couldn't help but break into a huge grin.

"Wow, that certainly blows my gift out of the water."

Demyx looked over at Xigbar, but he couldn't see a gift anywhere. Xigbar wasn't wearing a coat, so it couldn't be in his pockets. Demyx got a little confused but decided to let him do the talking.

He looked around the room curiously. "I used to wonder what it would be like here."

"Where?"

"In your room. You have a lot more posters than I imagined."

"I don't like bare walls," Demyx said, pushing past the fact that he inadvertently just told him he'd imagined being in Demyx's room. At least he hoped it was inadvertently.

"You have an interesting taste." He commented. His walls were plastered with band posters primarily, but there were also a few movie posters and a couple posters of just pictures or words.

"I'm complex," he teased. He didn't like this non-joking Xigbar, he was being too serious and it unnerved him.

"I'm afraid I didn't buy your gift, Demyx. It comes more from the heart," he said.

"That's fine." Demyx felt a little more reassured now that he had gotten back to the topic of his birthday.

He got up to look around at his posters and Demyx watched him curiously. What was he playing at? He thought he heard Xigbar take a deep breath. Demyx got up and crossed the room to where he was and placed his hand on Xigbar's shoulder.

"Xigbar? Is everything okay?"

This time Demyx definitely heard Xigbar take a deep breath. He turned around and smiled at Demyx. "Yeah. It's just surreal to be here in your room. Although I guess I pictured I would be here under different circumstances. Or hoped, rather."

"What are you talking about, Xigbar? What circumstances?"

"Well, that you would invite me up here after a party, or something. Of course, those were just fantasies. I was never invited to any of those parties."

Demyx felt like he should apologize or something, but he couldn't figure out what Xigbar was getting at and it was making him uncomfortable.

"Ready for your gift?" He asked suddenly.

"I – yeah, I guess so."

He held out his arms. "Can I have a hug first?"

Demyx stepped into his arms and put his own around the taller boy. He felt Xigbar's arms slide around his waist, hugging him tightly, and Something in Demyx's head screamed that this was wrong. But he didn't move. He just told that Something that it was just a hug between friends, and that clearly something was wrong with Xigbar.

"Happy birthday, Demyx," he said. And before Demyx could say his thank you, before he could do anything really, Xigbar moved his head slightly and kissed Demyx.

Demyx was so shocked he couldn't move. He felt Xigbar kissing him but his brain wouldn't tell his body to move away. He thought he heard the click of his door being opened and his brain finally seemed to wake up and he tried to push Xigbar away but he only kissed Demyx more passionately. Demyx removed his arms from around Xigbar and placed his hands on Xigbar's chest in an effort to push him back but he didn't seem to get the hint and he just placed one of his own hands on Demyx's.

"What the hell?"

That got them apart and Demyx looked over at his doorway to see Axel standing there. Dozens of emotions ran over his face: hurt, anger, shock, anger again. On and on in a space of about five seconds, and then he was running down the stairs.

"Axel!" Demyx yelled after him and ran after him. He was barely aware of Xigbar right on his heels.

Axel threw open the front door and started walking to his car. Demyx saw Roxas looking surprised and confused as he entered the living room, but Demyx didn't stop to explain. He tore after Axel and tried to get him to stop.

"Axel, wait! Let me explain!" He heard his words echo around the deserted street. Axel didn't stop as he reached his car and got in.

Demyx ran for the car but Xigbar got there first. "Axel, stop!" He yelled. "Listen to me, it's not Dem's fault!"

Axel looked up at him as he jammed his keys into the ignition. He started the car without hesitation and took off.

Demyx watched his car leave and he noticed tears were streaming down his face. He fell to his knees on the grass and started crying. He wasn't aware of anyone next to him until Xigbar spoke.

"Demyx, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't think he would see that." He reached over and placed a hand comfortingly on his back.

That really woke Demyx up and as he glanced up at Xigbar he brought his hand up and punched him in the face as hard as he could. "_What the fuck were you thinking?_" He screamed shrilly at him. Demyx heard someone gasp from the front door but didn't pay any attention to it.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled back, one of his hands touching the place on his face where Demyx had hit him.

"Why w-would you do that?"

"He's not the only one that likes you, Demyx! He knows that I liked you too, but I think he really thought I stopped liking you." He looked at him pleadingly. "I never did, Demyx. I always liked you, just as he did."

"Go – away," he said between sobs.

"Demyx I said I was -"

"Go _away_," he said more assertively.

"I think you should leave, Xigbar," Roxas said from behind them. He walked out of the doorway and kneeled in the grass next to Demyx. Demyx looked gratefully at him and Roxas put his arms around Demyx comfortingly.

Xigbar glared at Roxas. "This is none of your business," he spat.

"Demyx told you to leave, Xigbar," he answered calmly. "It's his house, just go home."

Xigbar continued to glare at Roxas but he stood up without saying anything and stomped off down the street.

"Come on, Demyx. Let's go back inside."

Demyx had started crying again and he let himself be led inside and up to his room by Roxas.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Roxas asked carefully as he helped Demyx lay down on his bed.

"Xigbar kissed m-me," Demyx stammered.

"He _what?_ Why would he do that?" Roxas asked shocked.

"He said that A-Axel wasn't the only o-one who liked me. And Axel saw him!" Demyx wailed. "He walked in just after Xigbar kissed me and I tried to push him away, Roxas, I really did!"

"I believe you," he said quickly.

"But Axel saw him kissing me and he just took off. I didn't mean for it to happen, Roxas! He just kissed me! I didn't know he was going to do that," he started sobbing again.

"I know, Demyx. Axel will believe you, he loves you. He just needs to be told what happened."

"He won't ever listen to me," Demyx said.

"We'll make him listen," Roxas promised. "He was just caught off guard and he got angry. It'll be different in the morning," he assured Demyx.

Roxas left and went to explain things to Demyx's parents who were hovering just down the stairs wanting to know what happened. Demyx's mom offered to drive Roxas back to his house and they left shortly after.


	7. Chapter 7

Things weren't any better in the morning. Demyx woke up and the first thing he did was try to call Axel. He didn't answer, though, and when it went to his voicemail Demyx left a message. He called him again about ten minutes before Axel usually came by to take Demyx to school in the mornings, but again it just rang until his voicemail picked up. This time Demyx didn't leave a message. He figured Axel was still angry at him and didn't want to drive him to school so Demyx walked out to wait for the bus. A few minutes later a car did pull up, but it wasn't Axel's, it was Xigbar's.

"Go away," Demyx said automatically.

"Demyx, Axel isn't coming to school today. He won't be able to give you a ride."

"I didn't think he would want to anyway after what you did last night."

"So can I give you ride?"

"No," he said shortly. "I'm waiting for the bus."

"You hate the bus, Demyx. Just let me give you a ride."

"I wouldn't accept a ride from you even if it meant being late and flunking class." Acid laced every word he said. He glanced quickly at Xigbar and saw that he looked hurt and ashamed, but there was nothing in Demyx that felt sorry for him. Xigbar got back in his car and drove off.

School wasn't much better. Demyx and Roxas sat alone at their usual table and Xigbar sat by himself at another table. Axel really didn't show up all day, and Demyx knew it was his fault. Nothing Roxas said was making him feel any better, and at lunch he ended up going home himself. He told his parents he felt sick, and he really did, but he mostly just felt sick at himself. The rest of the day he spent in bed. Every thirty or so minutes he would try calling Axel again, but after three times it started going straight to voicemail and Demyx figured Axel must have shut off his phone.

The next morning rolled around and Demyx went out to wait for the bus again. Xigbar drove by and stopped in front of him but he didn't get out this time. Demyx heard the passenger door click unlocked but he ignored him and stared determinedly in another direction. Eventually Xigbar drove off and when the bus came Demyx got on it.

The next day was Saturday, and Demyx didn't get out of bed until around four o'clock. All day he kept trying to call Axel, but only once did he get something other than just voicemail.

He dialed the number and listened to his phone as it rang. Usually it would ring four times before the voicemail finally picked up, but halfway through the third ring there was a click and silence.

"Hello?" Demyx heard Axel say.

Demyx was caught so far off guard that he almost didn't respond. "Axel? It's Dem -"

There was another click and the dial tone came on. Demyx tried his best to stifle a sob, but it came anyway and soon he was crying all over again.

Sunday he didn't even bother calling Axel. He had finally gotten the message: Axel didn't want to hear from him.

Monday morning came too soon, and Demyx was rolling out of bed again and getting ready for school. Surely Axel would be there today, he couldn't miss too much school just because he had gotten hurt. He'd already missed a week when he broke his leg. This time as Demyx waited for the bus Xigbar didn't drive by. Apparently he had gotten the message too.

Demyx sat in his usual seat with Roxas, and Xigbar sat at his seat at another table, but Axel had to sit with him. There weren't any other open tables, and everyone else was sitting with their groups so he couldn't just sit at someone else's table. But he did make sure he moved the chair as far away from Xigbar as it would go. As far as Demyx could tell they didn't talk at all during class, and throughout the day Axel ignored the both of them anytime he passed one or the other in the hall.

It didn't take long for people to start the rumors. It was pretty obvious that Axel was angry with Demyx and Xigbar, so most of the rumors were concerning him finding out Demyx had cheated on him with Xigbar. Demyx heard some girls talking about it once, and he gathered that the biggest rumor was that Demyx had had a huge party – a few of these girls even admitted to going to the party even though it had sounded lame – and Demyx had gotten so drunk that he took Xigbar upstairs to his room and had sex with him. A small part of him made the connection that the rumor was probably pretty close to what Xigbar had fantasized about until he had become friends with him. Demyx brushed off the realization as he brushed a tear off his face.

After school Demyx was waiting outside for Roxas – who had been going greatly out of his way to drive Demyx home after school – when someone came up and grabbed his arm and forced him to start walking.

Demyx looked to his right and saw that it was Xigbar who had grabbed his arm. "Hey! Let go!" He yelled.

"Don't start, Demyx. You're coming with me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you! Let _go _of me, Xigbar!"

They reached his car and he opened the passenger door. "Get in."

"No."

"Demyx, trust me, you'll want to come with me."

"_Trust you?_" He said incredulously.

"We're going to Axel's. We're going to _make _him listen to us."

That surprised Demyx enough to stop fighting him at least. "Why would we go together?"

"Because I know he hates me right now, and I don't blame him, but he has no reason to hate you. It's my fault, and I'll take complete responsibility."

Demyx looked at him shrewdly. He didn't know whether or not to believe him, but he did sound very sincere. And he looked sorry about the whole mess. After a few moments Demyx decided to go. "I need to tell Roxas -"

"He knows," he cut in. "I told him during sixth," he said as he closed his door and started the car. "He wasn't happy, but he agreed that _something _needed to be done."

He drove them to Axel's house, where Axel's car was already parked. Xigbar knocked on the door and Axel's mom answered.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Holden," Xigbar said politely. "Can we come in and speak to Axel?"

She looked at both of them before answering. "Xigbar, Demyx, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. He's really upset at you two."

"I know, ma'am, but to be fair Demyx hasn't done anything wrong and Axel needs to know it."

Axel's mom hesitated, but let them in. As they started up the stairs she called to Xigbar, "No fighting, please."

Xigbar knocked once on the door and then opened it without waiting for a response. Axel was lying on his bed and he looked over at the door. It took him a few seconds but he managed to say weakly, "Go away."

"No," Xigbar said simply. "Not until you hear us out."

"I don't care about anything you guys have to say."

"You will."

Axel stood up and took a step towards Xigbar. The three of them stood there, Xigbar and Axel staring intently at one another and Demyx feeling very awkward next to them, and Axel took another step closer to Xigbar.

"Listen, Axel," Xigbar began. But that was all he got out because Axel punched his face as hard as he could.

"Axel!" Demyx yelled as Xigbar staggered against the door.

"Demyx, no!" Xigbar yelled back. Demyx had started to help him up but he hesitated when Xigbar yelled at him. "I deserved it and it needed to be done." His lip was bleeding rather badly and he touched his cheek gingerly.

Axel looked at him for a few seconds like he wanted nothing more than to hit him again, but he just went back to his bed and sat down.

"Now you'll listen to us, Axel," Xigbar said with some force. "I admitted I deserved that, and I know I really did. But you have _no _right to be angry at Demyx."

"Who the hell are you to tell me who I can be angry at?" Axel spat back at him.

"I was your friend, until I kissed your boyfriend," Xigbar admitted. "And even though I know you don't believe me, I am sorry. I was completely in the wrong, but he didn't do anything wrong. I kissed him, Axel. He didn't even kiss me back." Axel looked over at Demyx finally.

"Is that true?" He asked him.

"Yes." Ever since it had happened Demyx had wanted nothing more than to explain this to him, but suddenly he found he didn't know what to say.

"I caught him by surprise, Axel. He thought I was giving him a birthday present."

Axel put his face in his hands and shook his head. "When I walked in – when I saw you guys -"

"Demyx, I'm going home," Xigbar said suddenly. "I've explained what happened, now you need to tell Axel your side. It doesn't involve me though." He started to open the door to leave and he hesitated. "If Axel doesn't give you a ride home, come get me. _Don't _walk home. It's not a safe time." And with that he left and closed the door behind him.

Demyx looked nervously at Axel, still sitting slumped on his bed, and had no idea what to say. He really just wanted to cross the room and throw his arms around Axel and beg for his forgiveness, but he didn't think that was the best way of going about it. Finally Axel looked up at him.

"You look like a wreck," he said.

Demyx didn't know if he meant that to be hurtful or if he was just stating a fact. He knew he looked bad. "I've barely been sleeping for the past several days," he admitted quietly.

Axel continued to look at him. "Come sit down," he said finally. Demyx started walking to the computer chair. "No, Demyx. Here with me," he said, indicating the bed.

Demyx changed direction and sat down on the bed, still not as close to him as he would like to be.

"Is it true?" He asked. "Xigbar kissed you, and you didn't even know about it?"

"Yes, Axel. I swear. I even tried to pull away but he pulled me closer. I didn't kiss him back, Axel!"

"Okay. I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yes, as much as I don't want to admit it, I know Xigbar very well and I don't think he would have come here and told me what he did if it wasn't true."

"Do you believe I still love you?" Demyx said with tears in his eyes.

Axel looked at him carefully. "Yes, of course I do."

Demyx gulped air to stop himself from crying again. He very nearly threw his arms around Axel but stopped just in time and wrapped his arms around his knees instead. He stayed in that position, even when he felt Axel move closer to him and put his arm around him.

"Demyx, calm down." He said softly. "I'm so sorry I put you through this."

"Don't – don't apologize! I'm sorry! You saw us kissing, you had the right to be angry."

"But not at you! Just like Xigbar said. I love you, Demyx. I'm so sor -"

Demyx couldn't handle Axel apologizing to him, when all he had wanted to do the last several days was apologize to Axel, so he did the only thing he could think of that would stop Axel from talking. Demyx reached up and kissed him. He could feel Axel's surprise and he pulled away almost immediately, but only for a second and he started kissing him again. He pulled Demyx tight and Demyx wrapped his arms around him, wanting only to be closer. Demyx felt tears mix with their kisses and realized he wasn't the only one crying. For some reason that only made him cry harder, and the harder he cried the more forcefully he kissed Axel. He seemed to be answering in kind, though, and they didn't break apart for some time.

When they did finally break apart both were gasping for air. Demyx was clutching onto Axel tightly and wasn't even about to let go. He didn't seem like he was going to complain, though, as he was holding onto Demyx just as tightly.

"I missed you so much," Axel finally said.

"I missed you too."

"I'm sor -" Axel started, but Demyx kissed him again. It was short, but the meaning was clear. Axel looked at him as he pulled away. "I'll stop," he said.

"You better. I wanted to say I was sorry for so long, and since you did nothing wrong -"

"Neither did you," he cut in.

"- since you did nothing wrong," Demyx continued, "I won't accept you apologizing anymore."

"Fair enough." Axel agreed.

"So what are you going to do about Xigbar?" Demyx asked timidly.

Axel sighed. "I don't know."

"It's because of him we're here right now."

"That's true in more ways than one," Axel said cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's because of him we fought, and because of him we're back together."

"We didn't really fight -"

"It's because of him I was angry at you, is that better then?"

Demyx felt hurt as he lashed out at him. Axel saw it immediately in Demyx's eyes and felt ashamed. "Sorry," he said without thinking. Demyx looked at him pointedly and it was several seconds before Axel realized what he was getting at. "Oh, right. Aren't you going to kiss me as punishment?" He asked teasingly. Demyx didn't answer but he smiled so Axel knew he wasn't upset. He continued. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. I guess the thing is I just don't really know how to feel about what he did. I didn't even know he liked you in that way."

"He told me once that him and I would probably never be good friends."

"He did?" Axel was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, the day after we grouped together. He told me he had animosity towards me."

Axel looked confused, and then angry again. "So then why would he kiss you?"

"After he kissed me, after you had left the party, he said something about how you weren't the only who liked me. He said you knew he liked me and that you must have thought he stopped liking me."

"I did. He liked you freshman year, just as I did. We both joked about how it wasn't a big deal that we liked the same guy because he – you – would never like either of us." His gaze left Demyx for a second and he stared at the floor in confusion. "I thought he stopped liking some point during sophomore year, but I guess not."

"What made you think he stopped liking me?"

"I – don't really know. I guess there wasn't something that gave it away, he just started talking about you less and less. I didn't concern myself about it because it meant that if anything happened between us at least I wouldn't have to worry about hurting Xigbar's feelings. I guess I didn't really avoid that after all."

"Are you going to forgive him?"

"Would you? If our positions were reversed?"

Demyx thought about it seriously. He tried imagining him and Larxene liking the same guy for years, only after a while Larxene acts as if she doesn't like him anymore. Then he tried imagining what it would be like to date that guy – _finally,_ after years of not even being acknowledged – and to walk in on him kissing Larxene. Demyx would have felt betrayed, definitely, and probably angry for a while. He also tried putting himself in Xigbar's position. Just wanting to know what it was like to kiss the person you've liked for a few years, even if it meant hurting your best friend. Because this was _love, _after all.

Finally Demyx nodded. "Yes, I think I would," he said. "Because if Larxene and I had gone through the same thing, I'd still know deep down that she was my best friend, and that I would forgive her sooner or later because we were such good friends. Or, in this case, we _had been _such good friends."

Axel nodded. "I'm not ready to forgive him yet. I feel like I should still be angry at him for some time."

"But can you be angry at him and still be civil? We still need to do the performance for English, and I think we need to practice some more."

"I suppose. I am really glad he got us back together at least. Now I can talk to you about all this."

"That's what boyfriends are for," Demyx said happily.

"There's some guys who wouldn't agree," and as he said that he pushed Demyx onto the bed and got on top of him so quickly that Demyx didn't have time to react.

"Oh, I see," Demyx said. "We're done with the serious talking now, are we?"

"If you have nothing else to add," Axel said, pinning Demyx's arms down over his head and starting to kiss his neck.

"Not really, just that I should probably be going home now."

Axel groaned. "You can't stay a little longer?"

"I have homework, Axel." He leaned up and kissed him. "I was putting off my paper because I didn't know I would be hijacked by Xigbar today and that I wouldn't have time to finish it."

Axel looked at him a little while longer and then got up. He held his hand out to help Demyx up and he took it. He drove Demyx home even though it was still light out, and when they got to his house he walked him to the door.

"I love you," he said, brushing blond bangs out of Demyx's face.

"I love you too," he responded, and kissed Axel goodbye.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Oof, sorry for the lack of update. Blame school, I always do.

Anyway, here's the next chapter, and chapter nine will be up in just a few minutes as well.

* * *

><p>Demyx called Roxas right as he got in to tell him what happened. Roxas was very glad to hear that they were back together, and glad that Axel was at least willing to be nice enough to Xigbar that they could work on their performance. Axel drove Demyx to school the next day like he used to. It was just the two of them, though, and Demyx guessed Xigbar was still driving himself to school. When they got to school Demyx and Axel sat at the same table as Roxas, and when Xigbar walked in he started walking towards the empty table.<p>

"Xigbar," Axel called. "Sit over here."

Xigbar looked a little startled, but did as he told. "Wow, Demyx, I expected you to get him to take you back, not me too." That was Xigbar's vague attempt at making a joke.

"I haven't decided to take you back – yet," Axel warned. "But Demyx did remind me that we still need to work on our performance together, so I agreed to at least be civil towards you."

They didn't talk much for the rest of the class, but at least there was some progress. At lunch all four of them went out for pizza again, because Roxas thought if Axel and Xigbar spent more time together it would make things go back to normal again. Demyx kind of agreed, so they all went in Axel's car. Xigbar decided to sit in the back with Roxas, though, and let Demyx ride up front. Demyx didn't argue and he went to sit with Axel.

After school they went to Roxas's house – a kind of neutral ground – to practice. Axel drove Demyx while Xigbar and Roxas took their own cars. They practiced for hours, until they were all satisfied that they had it all completely memorized. It was hard work but it was fun at the same time, and Demyx even caught Axel and Xigbar having fun trying out different ways of switching their lines. When they were done Axel drove Demyx back to his house while Xigbar drove himself home. Demyx kept prodding Axel about Xigbar, but he became mysteriously deaf every time he tried to talk about it.

They went to Roxas's house every other day after school, and also on the weekend. They had all their lines memorized perfectly, and now they were just working on how to make the delivery more entertaining to watch. When the next week came around and it was time for the class to do performances, they felt ready at least. They were scheduled to go on Thursday after another group went, and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were when the rest of the groups went. Friday was left open in case some performances ran too long and a group got pushed to the next day. All of the students in the class were supposed to take notes and write down comments they had for each performance, and each were about ten to fifteen minutes each in length. Ms. Wandall had picked the order they would go in, and Demyx was at least secretly thankful that they didn't have to go until Thursday.

They watched as three groups went on Monday and took their notes. All three were decent enough, but in each one there was someone who forgot a line and had to be reminded. Only two groups were able to go on Tuesday because they both ran a little too long, but one of them was incredible. They were funny and entertaining to watch, and Demyx hoped the class would enjoy their performance just as much. Three groups went again on Wednesday, and Larxene's group was one of them. The class went somewhat silent when she made her way to the front of the class, because they knew Zexion had been in her group. They didn't do a wonderful job, but there were only three of them instead of four like everyone else, so Demyx went a little easy on them in his comments and notes.

On Thursday Demyx felt like he was going to have a nervous breakdown. His group was now third instead of second, since one group got pushed to the next day, and he hoped more than anything the first two groups would go so long that they would be pushed to Friday – anything to not have to go up in front of the class so soon. The first group went and Demyx's handwriting grew steadily shakier as the time got closer and closer to when he would have to be up there in front of everyone. They finished, and while Ms. Wandall finished up her own notes Demyx tried breathing deeply to calm himself as much as possible.

"Group Ten won't be able to go today," Ms. Wandall announced finally. "One of their members is out sick. They will be going tomorrow instead, so Group Eleven, you're up."

That was Demyx's group. He felt his chest seize at the surprise. They had to go _now? _Because someone from the group before them was sick? This was so unfair! Demyx couldn't believe the injustice. Although if he was being honest with himself, he was really just incredibly nervous to finally have to be up there in front of everyone.

Axel gave his hand a quick squeeze and he smiled at him. "Come on, it'll be over with before you know it. Just pretend we're practicing at Roxas's again."

His words did very little to comfort Demyx. He couldn't just _pretend _that he wasn't in front of forty other people and that he was practicing at his friend's house with just his friends listening to him. Axel could say what he wanted, but he wasn't bothered by this. Even Roxas, who didn't like speaking up in front of the class, didn't have as much of a problem with it as long as he was in a group. Xigbar was as fine with it as Axel was, so he wasn't much help either. He and Roxas smiled at Demyx too, and they followed Axel up to the front of the class.

Demyx was thankful that he got to start out facing away from the class. He and Roxas stood side by side facing the blackboard, while Xigbar started his lines. Axel stood directly behind him, also facing the blackboard like Demyx and Roxas were. When it was time Roxas turned around and stood back to back with Demyx, and started reciting his lines from Juliet. This went on for a little bit, then Xigbar and Axel switched positions. Now Axel was reciting Romeo's lines to Roxas, and soon Demyx and Roxas would switch just as Xigbar and Axel had. He listened to Roxas's lines carefully, because even though he was nervous he didn't want to make it worse by missing his cue. It came soon enough, and he and Roxas revolved on the spot so he was facing the class and Roxas was facing the blackboard.

Demyx said his lines without difficulty, and eventually the nervousness was gone and he was in character. This didn't break when Axel and Xigbar switched spots. The class was enjoying it at least, he could tell because a few people actually had smiles on their faces from the role switching idea. It was almost time for Demyx to switch spots with Roxas, and when that time came they did so flawlessly. Xigbar continued his lines, and then switched with Axel for the last time. Roxas continued on as if his Romeo hadn't suddenly changed appearance, and when he finished his lines Demyx and him switched for their last time. Demyx and Axel finished off the scene as Romeo and Juliet, and when it was all done with the class clapped like they had for everyone else. Demyx breathed and audible sigh of relief.

Axel was hugging him almost at once. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" He asked him.

"It was at first, but it got better as we went on." Demyx admitted.

They went back to their seats, Ms. Wandall giving them a rare smile, and prepared to take notes on the next group since there was still time for one more. Demyx noticed that his handwriting was incredibly shaky again, but eventually it too was fine as he kept writing. English ended eventually and they all separated to go to their next class. Usually Demyx walked with Xigbar, but after what had happened between them this had stopped. Demyx didn't know whether Xigbar had decided not to join him because it probably wasn't the best idea if he wanted to be back on speaking terms with Axel again, or if Demyx had really gotten the point across that he wasn't at all interested in Xigbar when he had refused his rides to school. Whatever the reason, Demyx hadn't been disappointed at all. He hadn't really cared either way, because he was happy just to be back with Axel. He didn't really miss Xigbar – he was often sarcastic and negative – but he did miss the company. Just having someone to walk down the hall with was nice.

Demyx walked to his second period alone, however, and at lunch he met Axel at his locker as usual. They then went out front to wait for Roxas and Xigbar.

"How much do you want to bet that Xigbar won't show up?" Axel asked them as they waited.

"Why wouldn't he?" Roxas asked with some confusion.

"Our presentation is done now, we have no reason to get along."

"I thought you guys were almost friends again?" Demyx asked.

"Well, to be honest I thought so too," Axel admitted. "At least I had started not really getting sick at his appearance."

"Good to hear," Xigbar said, suddenly behind them.

Axel looked awkward all of a sudden. "I only meant -"

"Don't worry, I don't really get sick while looking at you now, either." He joked.

There was an awkward silence which Roxas broke by saying, "Shall we go to lunch then?"

They drove to their usual pizza place and decided to get it to go. They wanted to go out to the beach and enjoy being done with their performance, and nearly done with school entirely.

"I have an idea," Xigbar said as they waited for their pizza.

"What's that?" Demyx asked him.

"Let's go to the city. It's only thirty minutes away, and we can catch a movie, or do something fun to celebrate English being over."

"We don't have time to go to the city," Roxas pointed out.

"We have plenty of time, but we'll have to skip."

"I'm fine with that," Demyx said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "It's only Ms. Wandall who had threatened to fail me if I was late for class, and I know I'm not doing anything worthwhile in the rest of my classes, so why not?"

Axel nodded. "If Demyx is going, I'm going."

"Yeah all right, I'll go," Roxas finally decided. So when their pizza arrived they took it out to Axel's car and they drove into the city. Demyx took the opportunity to sit in the back with Roxas and talk, so it would force Xigbar to sit up front with Axel. They didn't talk much at first, but eventually as time went on they started commenting on some things they saw. The fact that Roxas and Demyx were talking to each other and not loudly enough for Axel and Xigbar to join in was also a hint to the both of them.

After half an hour they arrived in the city. Axel stopped for gas and they discussed what they wanted to do. No one was up for any of the movies that were out, so they couldn't go see a movie. Xigbar suggested some activities that Roxas and Demyx weren't really in to.

"Let's go to the fairgrounds," Axel suggested. "There's always something there at least."

They agreed on that and Axel drove them to the fairgrounds. Luckily there was something going on: a local high school was sponsoring a carnival to raise funds for their art program. They all got excited at this and immediately went to the ticket booth to purchase tickets. Roxas wanted to go to the bumper cars, but Demyx wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. So Xigbar went with Roxas and Axel followed Demyx to the Ferris Wheel. There was hardly a line at all, because it was still the middle of the day when most people had either school or work, so they got on as soon as the ride stopped. There was only four other people on the ride: two boys and two girls and they looked like couples – just like Demyx and Axel. Axel got into the seat and Demyx followed, squishing himself next to Axel as much as possible. Axel swung his arm around Demyx's shoulders and the ride started soon after. They went around several times, stopping once at the top as one of the other couples got off the ride, and then they too were let off.

They walked hand in hand to the bumper cars to meet Roxas and Xigbar. The two were still in the bumper cars – one of the only rides that had a slight crowd – and they looked like they were having a lot of fun running into each other and everyone else. When the time was up everyone got out of their cars and made for the exit while some people in the crowd came in and got in their own cars. Xigbar and Roxas saw Axel and Demyx there and walked towards them.

"You've got to have a go!" Xigbar yelled joyfully. "They're so much fun!"

"I've been on bumper cars before, Xigbar, I know they're fun," Demyx teased. He was glad Xigbar was smiling again.

"Let's all go on them next time," Roxas suggested. They all agreed so when the ride stopped and everyone exited they went in and found a car. When everyone was situated in their cars and buckled in the buzzer went off to signal the start. Demyx pushed the pedal of his car to the floor and slowly moved forward and straight into a stranger's car. The stranger laughed gleefully and Demyx laughed too, and then he felt a car slam into his own. He looked to his left to see Roxas grinning at him and he tried to reverse in time to return the favor. As he was backing up another stranger crashed into his car. He had managed to get straightened out and was driving forward when he realized Axel was right in front of him. He aimed for his car and slammed into it with much force, causing Axel to swear and look over at him. Demyx smiled and blew him a kiss, which he laughed at and reversed – much better than Demyx had – quick enough to hit him back. Just as Demyx was about to try spinning his car around to go for someone else he felt a car hit the back of his, pinning it against Axel's and rendering him unable to move. The seat was too tall for Demyx to see who was behind him so he did his best to turn the car and just barely managed to slide out of the position. He looked to his left and saw that it had been Xigbar who ran into him, and now that he had moved Xigbar used the opportunity to drive his car straight into Axel. Demyx got a little worried when he did it, just in case his and Axel's healing friendship hadn't quite mended enough to excuse him from running into Axel, but they were both laughing and they got out of the spot and drove for different targets.

The buzzer sounded again far too soon, in Demyx's opinion, and the cars mysteriously stopped running. Everyone got out and walked to the exit. Demyx automatically grabbed Axel's hand when he neared him and he gave Demyx a quick kiss. The four of them wandered around the carnival to find something else to do. Most of the other rides were for much smaller kids, so they tried their luck at a few games. Xigbar was pretty good at the ring toss, and he ended up winning a cheap eye patch which he immediately put on. Axel tried his hand at a few games, and at one he was able to win a stuffed bear. He gave it to Demyx without hesitation.

"How cheesy," Xigbar commented.

"You're just jealous," Demyx retorted, and instantly regretted it. Xigbar fell silent. It was only too obvious that Demyx had been exactly right.

"Let's get some cotton candy," Roxas said quickly, acting as if neither of them had said anything. There were two different flavors of cotton candy, and they couldn't decide on one flavor so they got both. They wandered around the carnival for some time longer, waiting until it was time to go back home, but they had ran out of things to do.

"We could go on the Ferris Wheel," Xigbar suggested.

"Demyx and I have already been on it," Axel said.

"Yeah, but Roxas and I haven't."

"That's all right, I don't like heights," said Roxas.

"Or we can just go home now," Xigbar said sullenly.

"I'll go on the Ferris Wheel with you," Demyx offered. Axel looked at him quickly and Demyx gave him a meaningful stare. Axel was going to have to trust him eventually.

He seemed to get the message. "I'll stay with Roxas."

"All right, come on, Blondie," Xigbar said, already walking towards the Ferris Wheel.

The same carnie let Demyx and Xigbar on the ride as had let Demyx and Axel on. Xigbar got on the ride first and Demyx followed, after giving a quick reassuring glance back to Axel. Axel's face remained impassive, and Demyx rolled his eyes as soon as he was facing the opposite direction. Xigbar had his arm resting on the top of the seat, but moved it as soon as Demyx sat down next to him. He was clearly trying to avoid a situation where they would get in trouble with Axel.

Demyx had his own agenda. "Xigbar, we need to talk."

"About what?" He asked innocently.

"The kiss. I want to know why you did it."

He sighed. The ride started up and they were able to talk more freely over the hum of the ride. "I just really wanted to be able to do it. As far as I know, you and Axel could wind up getting married and living the rest of your lives together. I just wanted to have done that just once."

Demyx listened as he explained himself. He had already decided he wouldn't be angry no matter what Xibar said, and he stuck by that. "You once told me we would never be good friends."

"I know, and you have no idea how much I regret that." He said seriously. "I said it because I didn't trust you. I thought maybe you had some kind of ulterior motives behind being friends with us. But that's because I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Demyx said quietly.

"I kissed my best friend's boyfriend."

"Okay, I'll give you that." He grinned to let him know he was joking. Xigbar understood and smiled weakly back, but there was no humor in it.

"It's never going to be the same between Axel and me now. He's never going to trust me. Did you see his face when you offered to go on the ride with me?"

"He just needs time."

"All the time in the world won't erase what I did. It'll always be there, even if it's in the back of his mind."

He looked so upset and Demyx couldn't stand it. Even if he had no feelings for him Xigbar was still his friend. Demyx moved closer to him and leaned his head down on his shoulder. Xigbar was surprised but didn't try to move him. The ride stopped at the top and Xigbar looked over at the trees.

"It's so peaceful right here. It seems out of place for the city."

Demyx had no idea what to say, but he didn't think he was required to say anything. Suddenly he felt very tired. He couldn't help it when a yawn came and he couldn't stifle it. Seconds later Xigbar yawned too.

"Damn you," he said jokingly. Demyx laughed. The ride ended some time later and they walked back to Axel and Roxas. Demyx smiled up at Axel when he reached him and gave him a quick kiss. Axel hugged him tightly and smiled back.

"So now what?" Roxas asked. "Shall we just go home?"

"Might as well, there's nothing left to do." Axel said.

"I'll drive," Xigbar offered.

"You don't have to, I will." Axel said.

"It's cool," Xigbar said. He looked pointedly at Demyx who yawned again.

Axel understood and agreed to let Xigbar drive back. They opened the car doors and were greeted by the smell of pizza. There were still some slices left and they all had one more piece before they left. Axel sat in the backseat with Demyx this time, and he did his best to stay awake and talk to him but eventually Demyx just couldn't. And Axel's shoulder was just so comfortable.

"I love you," Demyx whispered.

Axel bent down and kissed him. "I love you too."

Demyx fell asleep and before he knew it they were pulling up in the school parking lot. Roxas got out to get in his car, but not before telling them all goodbye. Xigbar got out of the driver's seat to get into his car too. Axel got in the driver's seat while Demyx got in the passenger's and Axel drove them home.

"I had fun today," Demyx said as they pulled up outside his house.

"I did too," Axel said. He had a look on his face that said there was something he clearly wanted to talk about.

"What is it, Axel?" Demyx asked patiently.

He looked at Demyx for a second and said, "You know me too well. It's nothing, really."

"Tell me if you feel like you need to."

"That's just it, I don't think I need to, but it's for my own curiosity."

"What is it?" He repeated.

"I just – I just wondered what you guys talked about. On the Ferris Wheel." His eyes went back and forth between Demyx's for a few seconds. "If you don't want to tell me it's not a big deal, I trust you."

"But you don't trust Xigbar," Demyx said.

"Can you blame me, Demyx?" He asked, almost pleadingly.

"I guess not. But you have nothing to worry about. I love you, not Xigbar, and he knows that. No matter how much he tries he's not getting me to leave you for him. And he's smart, Axel. I'm sure he knows that I wouldn't do anything so he'll get over his feelings soon enough."

Axel nodded. "Thanks, Demyx. I guess I just needed to hear that." He gave Demyx a kiss. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Axel." Demyx got out of the car and walked up to his house. Again Axel waited until he was inside before he left.


	9. Chapter 9

Graduation was looming nearer and nearer. The seniors had the last week off of school, and when Demyx wasn't spending time with Axel, Roxas, and Xigbar he was thinking about graduation. He was nervous about having to walk up to the principal alone to receive his diploma. What if he tripped and made a complete fool of himself? Axel kept telling him that he would be fine, and Xigbar told him that even if he did trip everyone would only laugh at him for a few seconds and then they would forget about it altogether. This didn't really help Demyx. As nervous as he was, though, he couldn't help but be excited about the senior trip. It was tradition that the seniors took a trip after they had graduated. Usually this was kept a secret from the students, and miraculously it had remained a secret. No one had any idea where the trip was going to be this year, and the students were all excited for it.

Two days before the ceremony the caps and gowns arrived. The seniors all made their way back to the high school to pick them up and to take a preliminary photo shoot. When they asked the Prom Court to get together to take a picture Axel wrapped his arms around Demyx and they stood at the center with everyone else around them. Larxene took care to stand as far away from Demyx as she could.

The night before graduation some students put together a bonfire night at the beach. Demyx, Axel, Roxas, and Xigbar all decided to go. They figured that if it wasn't much fun they could always walk down the beach together and find something else to do. Surprisingly they actually stayed at the main bonfire for quite a while, but eventually they got bored and started walking down the beach towards the jetty.

The next day the phone was ringing constantly at Demyx's house, either from a relative calling to wish him luck and apologizing for not being able to come, or a relative calling Demyx's mom about directions or for information. Demyx felt so jittery all day, and he couldn't spend the time with any of his friends because they were all busy getting ready too. When it was finally time to go to the high school Demyx let out a sigh of relief: it would all be over in a couple of hours. He got out of the car and walked timidly up to the school with his family, wanting nothing more than just to see his friends that he was supposed to meet there.

They entered the building and Demyx walked with them to their seat. He gave them all hugs and they wished him luck and he was finally able to leave. Demyx made his way to the classroom where everyone was congregating to talk to their friends and put on their cap and gowns. When he was in the room he spotted Roxas and made directly for him.

"Demyx!" Roxas called in relief. "You're here!"

"Yeah," Demyx said, hugging his friend. "Is Axel or Xigbar here yet?"

"I haven't seen them."

"How many relatives do you have here?"

"Not too many, most of my relatives live far away. My mom and dad are here, and my older sister, and both of my grandmas came. You?"

"Too many. Mom, dad, two sets of aunts and uncles, my grandma, and a couple older cousins. They told me they were going to start cheering as loudly as possible when I get my name called."

"I wish I would have known that," Xigbar said from behind them. He smiled at the two of them. "I could have warned my mom to tape it and your reaction, Blondie."

"Very funny," Demyx said, but he was in too good of a mood to be upset.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Xigbar asked them, no doubt catching the look on Demyx's face or maybe sensing his tone.

"Very," Roxas said. "Now all Demyx and I have to worry about is going to Europe."

"Yeah about that," Axel said, joining them finally. He slipped his arm around Demyx and gave him a quick kiss before continuing, "Make sure you don't forget about me. I'm sure the guys in London will be quite appealing, with their accents and all, but I loved you first."

Demyx giggled. "Don't worry, Axel, you're only in trouble if I meet an Irish guy."

They all laughed and soon a teacher was coming in to get all the students ready to walk out. Everyone lined up in two separate lines, with their walking partner next to them, and the teachers called orders to each of them. Soon enough music started playing and the teachers ushered them out into the hall. All talking had stopped, whether from nerves or otherwise, and the teachers separated the two lines and took them to different entrances. The students entered the gym, where the ceremony was being held, at a staggered pace, one person being let in from each line at a time. As one person entered through one door their partner would enter through the other. They would slowly approach an archway from different directions, and then they would join and walk down the aisle to their seats. When they made it to the archway, the teacher at the front of each line would send down the next student.

Demyx waited patiently, and nervously, as the students in front of him went. The only thing keeping him from wringing his hands in anticipation was Axel holding on to both of them. He was standing right behind him, and when it was finally Demyx's turn Axel gave him a quick kiss – made very awkward because of the caps – and wished him luck. Demyx walked towards the aisle and saw Roxas coming from the opposite site, and he couldn't help but smile which made Roxas smile. They met at the archway and linked arms, still smiling, and proceeded to walk down the aisle. Demyx could hear faintly his family calling his name, but he was determined not to look. When they got to their seats they sat down and waited for everyone else. Axel and Xigbar were right behind them and when Axel sat down next to Demyx he took his hand immediately. Axel didn't complain, but squeezed his hand comfortingly.

Eventually all the students were seated, and the band finished up the song which they had walked in to. The principal got up and said his speech, and then introduced the Valedictorians. They then got up and each delivered their own speech, and when the last had spoken they introduced the student body president. She got up and did her own speech, and then it was time to hand out diplomas. The principal got back up and without saying more than "Congratulations class of 2011" he started calling names. As people were not sitting in alphabetical order, he could only call one name at a time and wait for that person to go up and get their diploma. Demyx watched as his fellow classmates were called, and when it came time for Zexion's name to be called, but the principal merely passed over it, Demyx shivered slightly. Of course, Zexion hadn't been present to take any of the final exams since he'd been abducted, so apparently the school couldn't give him a diploma. Demyx felt incredibly sorry for Zexion's parents, who he could see out in the crowd crying.

Axel's name was called and he got up to receive his diploma. Demyx could see the nerves on his face and he cheered loudly with the rest of the audience. He came back to his seat and Xigbar clapped him hard on the back, while Demyx took his hand again and gave him a brilliant smile. Roxas's name was called eventually too, and Demyx whispered a hurried "good luck!" as he stood shakily up. Demyx could see Roxas's parents taking pictures of him as the principal handed his diploma to him and shook his hand. He came back to his seat too, and let out a huge sigh of relief, which Demyx, Axel, and Xigbar all laughed at.

Too soon they called Demyx's name. He clutched desperately at Axel's hand for a second and then stood up. He tried to tune out everyone's eyes on him as he made his way to the principal. He was more or less successful at this, but he still heard his relatives cheering as loudly as they could and he heard Xigbar's distinctive voice cry out "Yeah, Blondie!" while Axel whistled and cheered. As embarrassing as it was, Demyx couldn't help but smile. The principal answered his smile with one of his own, and he handed over Demyx's diploma with one hand and shook his other hand with his other hand. Demyx walked back to his seat between Roxas and Axel and felt a great relief pass over him. He had graduated from high school!

Xigbar's name was called soon after and he got up to get his diploma just as they had. The only difference was that there was a definite swagger to his walk, and no nervousness at all. Demyx envied this, but it passed quickly as he cheered loudly with Axel and Roxas for him. He walked back to his seat and sat down, as if he hadn't just accomplished something huge. When everyone had finally received their diploma, the principal gave another short speech, ending with "ladies and gentlemen, your class of 2011!" The audience clapped and cheered loudly, and the students all took off their caps and threw them up in the air as a collective group. Axel seized Demyx and kissed him, and they felt caps from other students land on their unprotected heads. They broke apart and laughed, and once they had retrieved their own caps and sat back down the teachers started ushering them out of the gym.

They exited in the reverse of the way they had come in, and soon they were back in the classroom they had started in. Most people shed their gowns and threw them in piles on the tables, and then made their way out to visit their relatives. Demyx, Axel, Roxas, and Xigbar all did the same thing, and they split up to find their separate families. While Demyx was talking to his parents Axel came up to him with some of his family, so Demyx was able to introduce him to his relatives while Axel introduced Demyx to his own. Roxas and Xigbar eventually joined them, their smaller parties having said their congratulations and left before the traffic could start. Slowly the visiting relatives dissipated, and when there were mostly students left the principal called for them to get on the buses.

The students did as they were told, all excited for the trip and not knowing where it was going to be this year. The four of them grabbed seats together, Demyx sitting comfortably against Axel and Xigbar and Roxas sitting in the seats next to them. The rest of the students piled into seats on the three buses with their friends, and eventually they were moving away from the school.

"I bet we go to the city," Xigbar said.

"Well I'm sure we won't stay here," Demyx said.

"What do you think we'll do in the city?" Axel asked.

"Who knows?" Xigbar answered. "At least there's more to do there than in our own town."

"Wouldn't it be funny if they took us to that carnival?" Roxas asked with a smile.

"No," Xigbar and Demyx said at the same time and laughed.

"There wasn't much there," Xigbar continued. "Everyone here would hate it. We're supposed to be there all night, and the four of us got bored with it after just a few hours."

They started talking about where they thought they were going to. It was hard to guess, though, since they really had no idea and it could end up being anywhere, even out of the city. They had been sent home the week previous with a sheet of paper that recommended some things they might want to bring, but the only thing out of the ordinary was "extra money" and even that wasn't too strange.

The bus did head into the city, and it could have kept going if that wasn't its destination, but it turned onto a different road. People started peering through the windows to see if they could discern where they were going, but it was difficult at night. The bus kept going, though, for another ten minutes and then stopped. Everyone was talking excitedly until a teacher up front stood up.

"I have a bag here of arm bracelets, just enough for everyone on this bus," she said. "I'm going to send a few down each side of the bus and I want you to pass it back to the people behind you. Once you get a bracelet, be very careful putting it on, as we don't have _any _extras. If you don't have a bracelet on your wrist, you are not going in. No exceptions." She concluded and started handing down bracelets. As a few came to Demyx and Axel, Demyx tried to read what the bright orange bracelet said, but there weren't any lights on inside the bus and he couldn't make out what they said. When he couldn't pass the bracelets back any further because all the people behind him had one, he took the next one given to him and put it on his own wrist carefully. Axel did the same next to him and Xigbar and Roxas also fastened their own bracelets on their wrists.

When the teacher saw that everyone had a bracelet she started leading them off the bus. The bus emptied front to back, and people did their best not to shove the people in front of them in order to get them going faster. Demyx held onto Axel's hand securely, while he made his way through the people. They got off the bus and everyone was standing around in a crowd, waiting for the teachers to show them where to go. Demyx felt Roxas grab onto his wrist in order to not lose each other in the crowd. It was cold, and Demyx started shivering slightly and moved closer to Axel, wishing he had not left his coat on the bus.

As soon as everyone was out of all three buses, the buses started driving out of the way and the students could finally see where they were. Bright lights hit them as they peered across the parking lot at a Family Center. Demyx heard people start talking to their friends in excited whispers, wondering what all was at the Center.

"I hope there's go karts," Axel whispered.

"I hope there's an arcade," Xigbar whispered back.

A teacher that had come off one of the other buses started talking to the students, reminding them that since they were here after hours they were the only ones going to be allowed in. Which ultimately meant that any "wrongdoing" would reflect negatively on the school. He reminded them that they had just graduated high school, which meant they should have at least some responsibility and maturity about them. This last comment he made without much conviction and he was rewarded with a few scattered laughs amongst the crowd.

The teachers stepped off to the sides and the crowd of former high school students surged forward to the Family Center. As they entered many people gasped in surprise. It was a huge building full of video games. Xigbar had gotten his wish at least, this was one gigantic arcade. The employees opened the doors and smiled as they checked to make sure everyone entering had a bracelet on, and people separated out in different directions. There was also a go kart track, as Axel had hoped, along with mini golf and laser tag, which was in a separate building.

"Where first?" Roxas asked.

"Can we do some inside activities first?" Demyx asked. "It's really cold out."

"Sure, let's attack as many of these arcade games as we can," Axel suggested. They walked around trying to find games they all liked. Demyx found a Dance Dance Revolution game almost instantly, and he got really excited. None of them wanted to play against him though, because none of them were very good at it and they didn't want to look like idiots.

"Come on!" Demyx pleaded with them. "This is one of the last times these people will ever see you, except at reunions! No one's going to remember if you looked bad at Dance Dance Revolution or not!"

Axel and Roxas looked hesitantly at each other, both clearly wanting to please Demyx but at the same time not wanting to play the game.

"I'll do it," Xigbar said finally.

"Yay!" Demyx squealed. He put in some tokens they had gotten upon entering and the game started up. It had been a long time since he had played Dance Dance Revolution, but within seconds he was hitting almost every step either perfectly or "Great!" Xigbar on the other hand, looked as if he had never played in his life. He kept hitting the wrong steps, moving a little too slowly even though the game was set to easy. When it finished Demyx gave him a hug and thanked him for at least trying. He tried once more on his own, on a much more difficult level, and went through six songs before he failed. When it was Game Over he turned around to face his friends only to find a slightly larger crowd had congregated to watch him. As he stepped off several of them clapped for him. He smiled to them and followed Xigbar and Axel as they walked to different games.

They spent a good deal of time wandering around the arcade and trying different games. They found one that was a roller coaster simulator, but it only let two people ride at a time. Demyx and Axel first gave it a try, and when they got off saying how awesome it was Roxas and Xigbar had to give it a try. Once they had finished Roxas had wanted to go again to try another track, so Demyx rode it with him. After they got off Xigbar and Axel decided to ride it again too, and to try a different track.

The coaster ate up a lot of their tokens, and they only had a few left. Xigbar and Axel took turns on a hunting game, each doing slightly better than the last until they ran out of tokens. Demyx and Roxas wandered around trying to find a game to use the last of their tokens on, and ended up playing a few random games. With all of their tokens gone they decided to go outside and try the go karts. Axel was looking very excited about this, but Demyx was freezing. He was very much regretting leaving his coat in the bus now.

"I'll go back with you," Axel offered.

"It's fine, the buses just parked around back and you really want to have a go at the karts."

"You shouldn't go alone…"

"I'll be fine, the bus driver stayed in the bus, remember?"

"Come on, Axel! You're the one who wanted to do these so badly!" Xigbar called.

Demyx gave Axel a quick kiss. "I'll be right back. Love you."

"Love you too."

Demyx started heading for the bus, shivering violently. It was so cold! Why had he decided to leave his coat on the bus? The bus driver opened up the doors when he knocked.

"Forgot my coat," he murmured.

"It's a cold one out there," the bus driver commented.

Once Demyx had grabbed his coat he threw it on and zipped it up. He waited on the bus for a few seconds longer, under the pretense of tying his shoe, just because it was so much warmer on the bus. Eventually he had to leave though, or else Axel would start worrying. He got up and headed back out, thanking the bus driver as he passed him. He rounded the building and started walking back to the go kart track. While he walked he noticed a black car parked just off the road. It looked empty, and he wondered who drove themselves here and why they didn't just take the bus.

That's as far as he got before Demyx's world went suddenly black.

* * *

><p>AN: Yeah, I'm leaving you on a cliff hanger. I'm gonna try to update again soon though, so you won't have to fret for too long!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Demyx wouldn't have woken up if it hadn't been for the screaming. Slowly he had started to hear it, and eventually it brought him completely around. Someone was in pain, and terrified of something, and they were screaming. It sounded like a guy, but Demyx had never heard someone scream so badly. He suddenly realized he was lying down and he tried to get up, but his arms didn't seem to want to move. What had happened?

Demyx remembered being at the Family Center. He had been there on his class's Senior Trip. His friends had wanted to ride the go karts, but he had gone to get his coat because it was cold. As he remembered that he shivered suddenly. It wasn't much warmer wherever he was. After he had put on his coat he had started walking back to the go karts, but that's as far as his memory went. Something had happened to him, and he didn't know what.

His head was throbbing. Slowly and carefully he reached his hand up and touched the back of his head. There was a lump there, and when he touched it even slightly a lightning bolt of pain shot through his head and he moaned faintly. His fingers came away slightly bloody.

Someone had hit him in the back of the head. Or had he fallen? Demyx didn't know, but he knew he had to figure out where he was. Slowly he began sitting up, his body didn't want to respond properly, but he forced it to. His vision came over hazy, and he blinked several times to clear it.

He was in some kind of stone room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all stone or cement, except for a metal door on one wall. There was nothing in the room – no bed, no windows, nothing. This was not a good place to be. As if to echo that sentiment, the Other Person suddenly let out a terrible scream again. It was filled with such emotion that tears sprung up in Demyx's eyes. He could hear pain in that scream, but also sadness, anger, confusion, and above everything – fear.

It was a contagious feeling, and soon Demyx was terrified. He didn't know where he was, or why he was here, or who had brought him here, but he knew he was in trouble. Even though his body screamed at him, Demyx did his best to stand up. The only part of him that was physically hurt – as far as he could tell anyway – was his head, so he guessed he must have been unconscious on the stone floor for a while if his body hurt this much. Nevertheless, as Demyx stood up and leaned against the wall he tried to be brave and do his best to think about his situation.

There wasn't a window on the door, so he couldn't use that to figure out what was going on. There wasn't even a handle on the door. He walked to the door in a jerky fashion, but his body was at least getting some feeling back so he wasn't in as much pain. It only took him a few seconds of studying the door to conclude that there was no way this was opening from the inside. Considering the kind of room he was in, Demyx guessed that was point of the door.

The Other Person screamed again, but this time his scream faded out towards the end. Demyx wasn't sure, but he guessed that the Other Person must have fainted, or something. He walked back to a corner farthest away from the door and sat down with his arms hugging his knees. He tried to speak but found that he couldn't, so he cleared his throat a couple times. After that he was able to get out a hoarse whisper. That wouldn't be much use for screaming with. He knew he was close to tears, and then the door opened suddenly.

"You're awake," said the man standing in the doorway.

"Where – where am I?" Demyx forced himself to ask.

"Let's not worry about that right now. How do you feel?"

"M – my head hurts."

"Yes, that's where I hit you."

Demyx looked up at him but he couldn't make out any facial features because there was a bright light shining directly behind him. "Why would you hit me?"

"I had to get you into my car without any fuss from you."

"Who are you?"

"Why do all of you always have so many questions?"

Demyx's head hurt. It felt like everything the man was saying was a complex riddle that he just kept throwing at Demyx. "All of who?" Demyx couldn't help but ask.

"The ones I pick. The first question is always 'Where am I?' After that it just depends where the conversation goes."

"Who are you?"

"Yes, that one usually comes up too." Even though Demyx couldn't see his face he could tell he was staring at him. He could feel his gaze. "My turn now. Do you feel nauseous?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, good. How is your body?"

"What do you mean?" Demyx self consciously hugged his knees tighter.

"You've been sleeping on a stone floor for several hours. Are you sore?"

"A little. Are you a doctor?"

The man paused before speaking. "Of a kind. Not a professional, though."

Demyx was about to ask another question when he heard weeping coming from somewhere close by. The man cocked his head slightly at the sound, and then turned back to Demyx. Before he could say anything Demyx asked, "Who is that? Was that the guy who was screaming? Why was he screaming?"

"It was wonderful meeting you, Demyx." And with that he backed out of the doorway and closed the door.

Demyx sat still huddled in his corner, now extremely confused. The man's abrupt departure was unnerving, and therefore all the more confusing. Why had he been asking him all those questions if he wasn't a doctor? What was he doing in this room anyway?

Time passed, but Demyx had no idea how long. He didn't wear a watch, and there wasn't a clock in the room. His neighbor's weeping had long since ceased. After a while Demyx began getting hungry; it must have been nearly morning at least. The man had said that he had slept for several hours. Sooner than Demyx had expected the door opened again.

The man walked in with a plate that had a sandwich on it. "Eat this. I'll come back in ten minutes with a glass of water." When Demyx made no motion to get up and get the plate he set it on the floor and walked out.

Demyx looked distrustfully at the sandwich, but he was really hungry. He picked apart the sandwich, making sure there weren't any pills or anything hidden between pieces of lunchmeat or something, and gobbled it down. It wasn't a great sandwich, but he was hungry enough that he barely paid attention to the taste. A few minutes later the door opened again and the man was back with a glass of water, just like he'd promised. Demyx traded the empty plate for the glass, but the man didn't leave once he handed it to him.

Demyx eyed him carefully over the rim of his glass. "Why am I here?" He asked him.

"You're here to help me with an experiment."

"What kind of experiment?"

"I don't really know how to explain it to you, half the time it doesn't make sense to me." He laughed then, as if trying to indicate this was a joke.

"Try."

"I'm curious about the effects certain – items will have on different people."

"What kind of items?" Demyx's unease was growing with every word he said.

"Would you like to find out?"

"Not until I know what I'm being tested with."

"You wouldn't know what it was anyway, I made it."

"What does it do?"

"Would you like to find out?" He repeated.

"N - no," Demyx stammered nervously.

"Maybe later." He took the glass from Demyx even though he hadn't quite finished it and walked out.

Demyx was so confused. He was testing people with something? This must be the person behind all the missing people! Demyx's heart jumped suddenly – what if the guy who had been screaming and crying was _Zexion?_ Demyx hadn't given much thought to Zexion still being alive – though he had hoped. Hours went by – or so it seemed – as Demyx sat thinking about his conversation with The Man. Eventually he started getting hungry again, and he guessed it must have been around dinner time. The door opened again and The Man gave him another sandwich – grilled cheese this time – with a small bag of potato chips. He didn't speak to Demyx this time, but closed the door as soon as he had accepted the food. Demyx gulped down the food and had just finished when the door opened again and he sat a glass of water on the floor and walked back out. As Demyx scooted forward on the floor to get the water he was curious why The Man wasn't talking to him anymore. He finished the water and sat it and the plate next to the door, and when The Man returned he cracked open the door to retrieve the items and left without saying anything.

Demyx curled up on the cold, hard floor. He wanted to sleep just to pass the time, but he didn't think sleep would come for a few more hours. If it was indeed dinner time it would still have been about five or six hours before he normally got tired. Having nothing at all to do must be incredibly exhausting, though, because before Demyx knew it his eyes were getting heavier. He welcomed sleep, and didn't give its unnaturally early arrival a single thought.

When he woke up he knew something was wrong. He felt groggy, which he hardly ever did except when he didn't get a good night's sleep. But of course – he had slept on a stone floor, naturally he wouldn't get good sleep. He tried to turn his body over onto his side so his back wouldn't get too sore, but he realized he couldn't move. Demyx opened his eyes and realized he was strapped to a bed. His head still felt a little fuzzy, and the light right over his face wasn't helping matters.

"Good evening, Demyx," The Man said from somewhere to his left. He tried to turn to see him but his head was strapped down along with the rest of his body.

"What did you do to me?" Demyx slurred.

"I'm afraid I had to drug your sandwich. It was the only way I could get you to cooperate."

"Cooperate with what?"

"My little experiment that I told you about."

Demyx felt a tear leak out of his eye. "I don't want to do this," he whined.

"Don't worry, I don't think it will be painful."

_You don't think?_ Demyx wanted to ask, but before he could The Man slipped a cloth over his mouth so he couldn't speak. He straightened the gag in an almost loving way that made Demyx's skin crawl. He let out a whimper before he could stop herself.

"Sh, it's going to be just fine," The Man whispered, stroking Demyx's cheek and clearly not noticing the goosebumps that had sprung up on his skin. He reached over to a table nearby, a metallic one not unlike ones used by doctors and dentists, and picked up a syringe.

Demyx tried screaming but the gag made it impossible. He did his best to try to break out of the straps, but nothing worked. The Man placed a hand on his chest and forced Demyx to stop moving. Once he had he stuck the syringe into his shoulder and pushed down on the plunger Demyx felt his eyelids flutter. The light above his head started moving and stretching, and Demyx realized he didn't feel afraid anymore. He knew this was wrong, that he should be terrified, but the light stretching to incredible shapes made him giggle.

"That's right," The Man whispered from beside him. "I told you there was nothing to be scared of. Now," he leaned in so close to Demyx's ear that he could feel the tip of The Man's nose just barely brushing against his ear, "can I trust you won't be difficult if I take you out of these straps?"

Demyx knew he shouldn't trust him, but he couldn't do anything but smile. This must have been encouraging to The Man, though, because he started undoing the straps. Demyx didn't like the way his hand lingered on his waist under his shirt after he unbuckled the strap, but he was powerless to do anything about it. He moved on to undo the other straps. Demyx only realized he was out of them when The Man put one of his arms under Demyx's legs and another against his back to pick him up. His brained screamed at him to run, but he felt limp, and when The Man had picked him up his head flopped comfortably onto his chest.

The Man carried him bridal style to his room where he set Demyx down against the wall. He took his time making sure he wasn't going to fall over, and that he had enough strength to sit up on his own. His fingers brushed Demyx's bangs tenderly out of his face. Then he said, "Now, you're going to see some pretty weird things soon, but hopefully the drug will keep you from being scared. There's _nothing _to be worried about. You're perfectly safe."

Demyx heard his words and scoffed. Well, he did in his head at least. The drug was preventing him from doing anything, let alone scoff his disbelief. The man stood up and closed the door behind him. Demyx realized he had some strength back, and he pulled his knees toward him again. Despite being kidnapped, being held in a stone room, and put on drugs, he didn't fear anything in the room. It was solid stone, except for a small crack in the corner where he had first sat.

Demyx stared at the crack. He was nearly positive it hadn't been there before, but he didn't trust his current judgment while the drugs were still in his system. He crawled over to the corner and peered at the crack. It had a small hole in the center about the size of his index finger, which he stuck into the hole in an effort to make it bigger.

The wall started to crumble around the hole! It wasn't stone after all, but some kind of weak drywall. Demyx worked his finger deeper into the hole and did his best to make it bigger. After only seconds he could fit his whole hand into it, and then he started working at it with two hands to pry it apart and hopefully make the hole big enough that he might be able to fit through it. He didn't know when The Man would be coming back, but he was confident it wouldn't be until the next meal time.

A few minutes later he had the hole opened up big enough that he could fit both of his arms in it. Which he then did, to test how thick the wall was. When his forearms were only halfway through his fingers came out into nothing. He worked his arms around in the hole and when he swept them downwards his hands hit sand.

Sand! He must be somewhere on the beach! Demyx nearly cried from excitement, but he managed to keep his cheer to himself. The sheer fact that he felt this excited must be a sign of the drugs wearing off, and he didn't want to give The Man a reason to come back sooner to check on him. Demyx kept working at the hole and eventually he could see through it.

It was indeed on the beach, and the sky was a wonderful summer blue. Demyx felt tears of happiness falling down his cheeks, and he did his best to quietly, but quickly, get the hole big enough that he could climb through it. It was only about ten minutes later that he judged the hole to be big enough, and he extended his arms out through it to pull himself through the hole. He wriggled and pulled and kicked and soon enough he collapsed on the sand.

His happiness almost caused him to cry out again, but his mind was still telling him to use caution this close to The Man's house. And he saw that that's all it was: a normal looking house from the outside, besides a large gaping hole in the corner. His confusion at The Man's strangeness increased, but he didn't take the time to worry about it. He had to get onto the road, and find help as soon as possible.

He got up from the sand and started walking down the beach. His first priority was to get out of eyesight from the house and its windows. Luckily the beach curved just enough that the trees around the house soon blocked him from view, and he started running. Demyx didn't remember the beach curving like this, but he supposed it must have been further down than he'd ever been. He continued running through the trees, not really knowing where to go but keeping the ocean to his back. If he was still in the same county, at least, a major highway ran down the length of the beach.

And there! He could see it! Wonderful pavement, with stripes of white and yellow road paint. He was so fixated on the road that he wasn't paying attention to his footing, and he tripped over a rock and fell right into the road. A car had been driving at that exact spot and it swerved to miss Demyx and slammed on its brakes. Demyx didn't feel afraid at all though, he was still too happy from having escaped The Man's house.

The car came to a stop in the turning lane and Demyx jumped up to run to the car. He was almost there when the driver opened their door. "Are you all right?" A woman shouted to Demyx.

"No! Well, I am now, but I just escaped -"

"Honey, slow down. Take a seat here," the woman opened a back door on the car and helped Demyx sit down on the seat. "Now, tell me what happened."

"There's a man, a bad man, over there on the beach!" Demyx yelled while fresh tears poured down his cheeks.

"What man, sweetie?"

"The man that's been abducting people! He took me from my senior trip, and brought me to his house."

"Oh dear," the woman said, pulling out her cell phone. "I'm going to call 911, do you think you can tell them what happened?"

"Yes," Demyx said gratefully. The woman flipped open her phone and glanced over where Demyx had appeared.

"Where is his house?"

"Through the trees, you can't see it from here. It's just on the tree line on the other side."

The woman paused before she started to dial. "Are you sure? There's never been a house there on the beach before…"

"I'm sure!" Demyx nearly screamed. "I just escaped from there!"

The woman looked at Demyx doubtfully and closed her phone. She gazed into Demyx's eyes and nodded at something. "Honey, I'm a nurse. I know what dilated pupils mean."

"W – what?"

"Your pupils are dilated. Have you been doing drugs?"

"No! Well – The Man, he gave me drugs. He slipped something in my food that knocked me out, and then he injected me with something."

The woman continued to look at Demyx with some skepticism. "Can you show me this house? We don't have to get too close to it, I just want a glimpse and then I'll make the call right away."

Demyx looked at the woman in horror. She was supposed to help him, not question him! "He could be looking for me," Demyx pleaded. "If he came to check on me and noticed I got out, he might be wandering in the trees looking for me right now!"

"I doubt he'd do anything with me around." The woman reached into her glove compartment and took out a gun. Demyx looked wonderingly at her. "My husband's been paranoid, with all these abductions," she explained absently.

Demyx led the woman through the trees, against his better judgment. He walked back to the house he had just escaped from, trying to remember how far he had walked down the beach away from it. When he was almost to where he thought it had been he started slowing down, creeping amongst the trees. The beached rounded up ahead and Demyx stopped.

"It's just around the curve," Demyx whispered. He looked at the woman, who nodded and held her gun at the ready. Demyx continued walking. The tree line was curving, following the beach, and Demyx came around the corner to see –

Nothing. There was nothing where the house had been. Demyx stopped dead from sheer shock.

"It was right there!" He yelled out, unable to stop himself. "The house had been _right there!_" Demyx turned, not wanting to see the look on the woman's face, but he planned to beg to use her phone.

Only the woman wasn't there. Demyx was completely alone. He whirled around on the spot, but there was no one on the beach but him. Not even the house. Immensely confused, Demyx started running back to the highway. Maybe the injection had some lasting side effects, and he had imagined the encounter with the woman. Of course, that didn't explain how the house had vanished into thin air, but Demyx didn't concentrate on that.

He ran as fast as he could. Hopefully someone would drive by soon enough and he could talk to someone wanting to help him. He stumbled on a branch but caught his balance quickly, only to then step awkwardly on a rock and fall down. His head hit something hard and he didn't move for a few seconds from the pain. Slowly he reached up to feel his head and what he had landed on.

Demyx felt the cold stone floor of his room. He blinked quickly and the beach melted away before his eyes. He was lying on the floor of his room. He had never gotten out. Demyx sat up carefully, and stared around him. There was no doubt about it, he was in the same room he thought he had just left. Despair washed over him and he clambered over to the corner. There was no crack in it, nor had there ever been. Demyx stared at it, and started to cry.


End file.
